Head Over Heels
by SilverDawn2010
Summary: "Oh, you have no idea how much it hurts...to completely give yourself to someone, and have them just ignore you in return..." Sonic's heart clenched at his own words, the irony suddenly washing over him, leaving him stupefied. "Actually, Sonic, I do..."
1. Heartbreak

Head Over Heels

.

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Chapter 1: Heartbreak

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Amy Rose absolutely adored parties.

A bubbly girl from birth, the pink hedgehog loved everything about get-togethers: the talking, the laughing, the mingling, the games, and of course, spending the time to get ready for it. For this particular party, Amy had gone out to buy a new dress - a stunning jade green, lined with darker emerald hued lace and hints of dark pink shimmers. It truly was a gorgeous outfit, and Amy felt excited to be at such a party wearing it.

And then, of course, there was the fact that_ he_ would be there. And he... well, let's just say that Amy would do anything in her power to get Sonic to notice her. Why? Amy couldn't put her finger on why exactly Sonic made her so crazy - or she didn't have the time to go through every reason - but every time Amy saw the dreamy blue hedgehog, she just couldn't help herself.

He just was so irresistibly huggable.

After taking another sip of the punch, Amy let her emerald eyes do another frantic search of the guests, but once again came up empty, not seeing who she wanted to. Where was he, anyway? It truly was amazing that someone as fast as he was could always end up _late_.

"Cream!" she hissed to her best friend, who had just popped a brownie into her mouth. "Have you seen Sonic yet?"

The rabbit looked over to her, finished chewing her treat and then swallowed before speaking. Always the polite one. "No, Amy, I haven't... I'm sure he's coming, though..."

Amy huffed and frowned. Where _was_ he? What could possibly be keeping Sonic this long? Why, even_ Shadow_ had shown up. Surely Sonic hadn't forgotten. After all, he was one who had gone around reminding everyone about this whole thing...surely he wasn't just going to ditch everyone. Sure, he could be rather... difficult in attending any social function, but still...

He just _had_ to be here.

Sighing once again that she had given her heart to such an elusive boy, Amy made her way to the other end of the snack table, approaching a certain orangish-yellow fox. His baby blue eyes grew in size when he saw her angrily approaching.

"Tails, where's Sonic?" she demanded, her hands firmly on her hips.

"Uh, I dunno, Amy," he said softly, taking a half step back in case the hammer came out.

"You're just covering for him, aren't you?" Amy continued, her brow furrowed in annoyance. "He really decided not to come, huh?"

When Tails just blinked in response, not wanting to evoke her wrath, Amy sighed and turned on her heel to walk back over to Cream, muttering, "Ugh, _boys_... they're _sooo _frustrating..."

Her trip back to her best friend was short lived, as the sudden sound of gasps and greetings caused her to twirl around in joy, her mood instantly changing to joy. Yes, Sonic was finally here! An involuntary grin lit up her face, and Amy turned her complete attention to the door, ready to run and tackle the hedgehog into a hug. Oh, just seeing him, with his lighthearted grin, those smooth quills, those lovely eyes... Amy couldn't wait.

_"Sonic.._." she said softly, her breath catching in her throat when his stunning cobalt frame entered the door. Oh, he was so_ hot_ it wasn't even -

Amy's heart stopped.

A bashful chuckle escaped Sonic's lips as he pulled _a girl_ in behind him, his gloved hand linked with hers.

**_What... ?_**

Amy's jaw fell to the ground. What was _her_ Sonic doing with another girl?

"Hey guys," he said, his voice smooth and deep as always. "Sorry I'm late but I got a little..._held up_." An adorable blush brushed over his muzzle as he turned to _her, _his gaze sweet and loving as she returned it with a smile._  
_

_"Sonic?" _Tails asked incredulously, his eyes ping-ponging between his older brother and the female clutching his hand.

"Yeah Tails, we're, uh, _together_ now..."

**_No..._**

_That... can't be... Sonic... and...** her**...?  
_

Shock.

For a moment, Amy could just stand there, gasping to replace the air that had rushed out of her lungs as tears clouded her vision. The liquid droplets blurred the distinction between Sonic and his girl, merging them into one figure in Amy's bleary view.

They were together. Yes, Sonic had a new girlfriend... but it _wasn't_ Amy.

_But that... wasn't...** right**... it wasn't... **possible**... It just couldn't happen... **unthinkable...**  
_

It was like someone had punched Amy in the gut and ripped her heart out, tearing the vital, emotional organ to shreds. Too many emotions slammed through Amy's body: Shock. Despair. Pain. Horror. Hatred. Anger...

_No..._

Amy wanted something out of Sonic: an apologetic glance her way, a look saying that he'd explain later, or... even just a_ friendly smile_... At least some acknowledgment... _something_.

Something other than the tender and loving glances that he was sending in his date's direction, looks that Amy had only _dreamed_ he would one day give her...

_It wasn't fair..._

After loudly sniffing and roughly wiping at her tears, Amy exploded as a sudden bout of rage flooded her system.

_"SOOOON-IIIIC!"_

Her rage-saturated voice rang out over the inhabitants of the party, silencing everything except for the blaring music. The blue hedgehog in question turned to her, his olive eyes growing wide in fear and before wrinkling in annoyance as the angry pink hedgehog approached him, her small fists clenched in fury.

"What do you_ think_ you're doing?" she hissed as she marched up to him. "How_ dare _you -"

"A-Amy," he stuttered, wondering how_ Amy _could have escaped his thoughts when he'd asked his new girl out. For a moment, all he felt was the familiar fear, but after his girl squeezed his hand, irritation at her antics and obsession replaced it. Sonic steeled his gaze, taking control over his own annoyance to face her.

"Look, I'm-a be nice, okay? I have a girlfriend now. We can be-"

"No we can't Sonic!" Amy hissed, her face beet red in outrage. "You don't understand! How can you date_ her_!"

Both Sonic and his date bristled at this, but Amy was too pissed to notice. "How dare you turn your back on _me_, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Amy." His voice was deep and dead serious, rather cold. Why did Amy insist on making a freaking_ scene_ out of everything? "You don't own me. We were always friends; nothing's changed. I never liked you like_ that_."

Everything stopped.

"B-but..."

Amy just gaped at her crush like a goldfish as the all too familiar pain of rejection hit her like a shockwave. No... this really was happening, wasn't it? Here was Sonic, the boy that had stolen her heart, with his strong, tan arm wrapped around the waist of a way too beautiful girl, telling Amy that he never did think of her of as more than a friend, and that another girl had captured his heart. His gaze was firm, unrelenting... and _hers_... taunting. Just one glance into her lovely eyes told Amy all that Sonic's girl was thinking: _He's mine, sorry. _

Amy ran.

She didn't want to hear or see anymore - she couldn't take it. Desperate sobs escaped her as she propelled herself towards the bathroom, crashing into an empty stall and sinking to her knees, sobbing violently.

Oh, it just wasn't fair... how could Sonic leave her like this? How could he... He didn't... this wasn't happening...

No... it was... a joke, surely.

_Then why were his eyes shining like gems when he looked at her? _

Or maybe... maybe he was just being nice to her... she asked him and...

_Why was he never nice to me, then?  
_

No, he probably just lost a bet...

_Then why did he look so happy to be with her, like he was in... love...? _

_Oh, it was too much...  
_

Oh, what was it about_ her_ that caught and stole Sonic's elusive heart? What did _she_ have that Amy didn't? What made _her_ so special that someone like Sonic would stop from his oh so_ busy_ life and take notice? Why was _she_ so different? Why was she _lovable_ and Amy wasn't?

_What did I do wrong, Sonic? What's wrong with** me**... don't you know I was always there for you, waiting, and what has** she** done? She doesn't love you like I do... she never could, Sonic, don't you **see** that?  
_

"Amy?"

The soft voice of her best friend just intensified the flow of tears dripping from Amy's eyes. She didn't want Cream right now. She didn't want anyone... she just wanted to... _cry_ and... have Sonic come... and wrap his arms around her... comfort her... kiss her...

Two small feet padded their way across the floor, finally coming to a halt behind the distressed pink hedgehog. Kneeling down to her level, Cream placed a hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Oh Amy, don't be sad..." Cream trailed off, not quite sure what else to say.

The pink hedgehog buried her face in her hands, her sobs rocking her back and forth.

"Cream... it's... not fair," she whimpered. "I love him so much... why does he have to love her?"

The little rabbit kept rubbing her sister's back before pulling her into an awkward hug. "Aw, don't cry..." she whispered in a choked voice, Amy's tears causing Cream to shed some as well.

"Cream... w-what did I do wrong?" Amy sputtered out, sniffing and wiping her leaking nose on the sleeve of her dress. "Why... her? Why does Sonic love her? Why..." she trailed off, her sobs intensifying.

But as she held her sister close to her chest, Amy got no answers, no help. She was left with the cold, hard reality that Sonic had a girlfriend... but she was still single.

...xxx...A/N...xxx...

Okay, please calm down, and drop your guns.

This will be a SonAmy story... eventually. After grasping at straws and getting nowhere but frustrated for a few days, I finally got this random idea.

But... this won't be a totally happy story, oh no. It's going to be different from anything I've ever written. (That being said, I don't think I can write "what I usually do" [whatever that is] anymore.)

I have two awesome friends to thank for inspiration.

Jacklethekitsune - Oh c'mon, I bet you were already thinking that. :D It's not completely your fault... but your most recent story had me thinking along these lines. But don't worry, this one's going to be_ much different_ than yours.

Bullet Nick - Because you gave me the idea to just write out whatever I was thinking and feeling, turning raw emotion into a story. So yeah... this is what I came up with.

Oh, and yes, Sonic has a girlfriend that's not Amy. I kept her identity vague because Amy is probably too delirious to acknowledge her, but you'll find out who it she soon enough. Plus it adds to the suspense. But no,** IT'S NOT SALLY or an OC**. I don't know Sally enough to write about her (plus everyone and their_ goldfish_ pairs Sonic with Sally in these types of stories), and OC pairings with canon characters are just lame, sorry if you like them. Those of you who know me have probably figured out who "she" is. ;)

So... I don't know how long this is going to be... but I have the next 5 or so chapters already planned... Don't be TOO upset in your reviews... After all, I was originally going to end the story here as a Oneshot, but I thought it left too many loose ends. Who is Sonic dating, and _why_? It got me thinking, and a chaptered story emerged. Plus, I'm not too keen on unhappy endings... You shall see...


	2. Against All Odds

firedolphin101, SkulY2K, Mist Valley Apex Avian, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, GodsSonicGirl, poka, Mana the Cat Magician, Avitala, rugtugba, Novus Umbra, enustikehtelkcaJ, sinister showdown, 01sonamy01, CherrletheChicken, SugarhogRose, IHeartSonAmy, Writer's Freedom: I. love. you. guys. to. pieces. I mean, 17 reviews, guys? Thank you so much!

Anywho... I wanted to name this chapter "Every SonAmy Fan's Worst Nightmare" because honestly, as a HUGE SonAmy fan, I can't think of anything worse than Sonic falling for a girl other than Amy. (A close second would be Amy moving on to Shadow...)

So what do I do? Write about it. And write... _why_ it won't work and why I_ do_ disagree with Sonic being with anyone else. No one else but Amy suits him. So it's like I'm disproving why you should pair Sonic with anyone else. But in order to do that, I had to sneak into "enemy territory" to work it from the inside. So you're going to have to stomach some Sonic & another girl for a bit... but trust me, I'll make it worth your while.

But anyway, I'm sure half of you aren't even reading these notes because you're anxious about the girl's identity, so I won't keep you any longer...

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

Chapter 2: Against All Odds

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

As Sonic watched the pink hedgehog flee from his sight, he felt his heart twinge. Was that guilt? More than likely. But what could he do? He had to let Amy know the truth, so she wouldn't _keep_ obsessing over him now that he had a girlfriend.

Ah. Yes. A girlfriend.

A giddy, involuntary laugh escaped him as Sonic turned back to her, his heart bubbling with an uncontainable joy as he studied her face. Man, she was so pretty, so graceful, so strong... she was the perfect girl, he knew. And she was _all his. _

He didn't think this lovey, mushy stuff would ever happen to him. He'd always ran from it. He didn't think it was possible to_ feel _this much, about anyone. But he did; every time she even crossed his mind, Sonic just had to smile. The thought of her was enough to brighten his day. He saw everything like he'd seen it for the first time; it was all fresh and new and wonderful, now that he had fallen deeply in love with this girl. He was just so happy to be with her. And she was just so... different to him.

Girls like her didn't come around very often. Heck, Sonic had never met anyone like her before: gorgeous, graceful, and feminine - yet she could handle herself in a fight, easily. Why, she'd almost beaten him when they'd first fought.

Yes.. they originally_ had_ fought. An unusual nostalgic smile came over Sonic's face. That seemed like so long ago, when they'd first met, and she had been so distant, so cold, so unwilling to let anyone help her. Sonic had seen a hint of himself in her, that independent spirit that was so akin to his own soul. But she had been a stranger from another world, and had always been alone. She was a mystery; an adventure in and of herself.

Sonic had spent a whole day or so tracking her down when she first came into their world (he was impressed; there weren't that many people that could evade _him_), and then after getting blown into her world just a week or so ago, had worked with her in bringing down Eggman Nega. Another plus to their relationship was that he didn't have to worry about Eggman ever capturing or hurting her. The girl had already proven herself against the doctor.

Yes, they had worked together. She was an equal. She was the only girl that could attempt to keep up with him, who could transform and fight by his side, who was just mysterious and beautiful and intelligent enough to keep him captivated.

Blaze.

Oh, just her_ name_ could send tingles down Sonic's spine and a grin to overtake his face. She made him so happy, so giddy, so... full of unbounded energy. Sonic had never felt like this around a girl before. Ever. Sure,_ Amy_ gave him weird feelings, but that was just fear, Sonic was sure.

Sonic hadn't the slightest clue how he and Tails had found their way back to Blaze's world, but he was glad that they had. And he hadn't wanted to go back home; their adventures together fighting pirates had sprouted some strange, intense feelings in his heart. They'd come on fast and furious, but that was just the way Sonic did things. Quickly and without thought.

So, quite without warning, Sonic had found himself completely head over heels for Blaze the Cat, to the point where she was all he thought about and pursued.

Feeling unusually bold, he'd asked her out, and she'd accepted, of course. Why wouldn't she? Sonic loved her, he'd done so much for her already, and besides, who wouldn't love him? It wasn't like he was incredibly good-looking, funny, or a huge hero or anything. Sonic practically had girls _dripping_ from him, begging to be his.

Sonic had made his choice: the gorgeous lavender cat, a princess and guardian of the Sol Emeralds. And he couldn't be happier.

But now, they were together in Blaze's own world (had to thank his genius of a little brother for building the portal), at a get-together thrown so the rest of Sonic's teammates could meet her. His new girlfriend.

"Sonic?"

Her lovely voice broke his thoughts, and he immediately turned to study her shiny golden eyes. "Yeah Blaze?"

She squeezed his hand, but shifted uncomfortably, turning in the direction of the ladies' room. "Was that...?"

"Oh,_ her,_" Sonic rolled his eyes, but gave Blaze a tender smile. "That's Amy, she's my_ stalker_..." Blaze frowned a little at this. "Er... I shouldn't say that, she's a friend... sorta... but anyway, don't worry about her, she'll get over me eventually, I hope. Lemme know if she ever bothers you."

"We've met before, back on your world," Blaze said simply, an amused smile coming on her ivory white muzzle. "She accused me of being after you."

Sonic blushed at this, but wasn't surprised that Amy would think that. Sonic smiled. "Well, she wasn't too far off, huh?" he said, tilting his head and smirking in his typical cocky fashion.

Blaze turned away. "At the time I wasn't, Sonic. I was still alone. But that was before you showed me... how to love. I was lost without you."

Sonic pulled the cat closer to him, his arms wrapping around her waist, their faces oh so close. "I'm glad I found you, too, Blaze..." he said tenderly before smirking once again. "But I'm just a real knockout, huh?"

Blaze blinked, not sure what to say... not sure what she was _feeling_. It was a usual situation for the cat. She was still discovering the intricacies of the heart; having been raised as the stoic guardian of the Sol Emeralds, and taught to never feel and be withdrawn... she'd always pushed others away. But that was before Sonic had come into her life, and showed her about friendship and... love. Romance. New concepts, all of it. She was still learning.

As she looked deeply into his glittering green eyes, Blaze found herself searching her heart. What was she feeling about this hedgehog? Even though she didn't know, Blaze had accepted him. Was that a wise choice? Looking back, Blaze wasn't so sure...

As the cobalt hedgehog pulled her closer and closer, Blaze felt a sudden bout of discomfort. She wasn't used to being this close to everyone, and she could feel every eye in the room on her. Sonic himself had always been the center of attention... but Blaze hated the limelight.

She turned away from his approaching face, missing Sonic's hurt reaction to her rejection of a possible kiss.

"Sonic... they're all looking at us... why don't..." she muttered uncomfortably, wiggling in his firm grip.

"Oh..." he said rather dumbly, and blushed deeper as he surveyed the crowd.

He hadn't thought of anyone wanting an explanation of why he'd decided to be with Blaze. He chuckled. All of his friends knew that he was erratic and unpredictable, right? So why were they all gaping at him like he'd grown another tail?

"Yeah, 'spose we better," he said and reluctantly let go of Blaze, though his hand naturally intertwined with hers. His smile had grown a little crooked, but his heart was still warm as Sonic started leading Blaze around the room, making his rounds to each of his friends.

"Well, she'll be apples, ain't that just ripper!" A certain hyperactive raccoon squealed in delight as she ran over to the new couple.

Blaze froze in fear as Marine approached, her flames appearing in defense almost involuntarily.

Sonic gasped in pain as an intense burning sensation stung his hand, and he immediately pulled away from his girlfriend. "Ah-ow!"

Marine continued gushing, but Blaze doused her flames and ignored the girl, horrified at what she'd just done.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately, wincing as Sonic looked at his singed gloved hand in horror.

Something registered in his mind, and the red flags shot up their masts to complement the alarm bells going off in his head._ Dude... you forgot... she's a walking fireplace... not exactly someone you wanna get close to, if you catch my drift... _

Sonic blushed at the dirty thoughts but shook his head and dropped his hand, letting his perma grin reappear._ It doesn't matter... I've fallen for this girl... and I'm not going to let it get in the way. _

"Hey, don't worry about it," he reassured, ignoring the burning pain. He let his hand intertwine with hers again and winked.

Blaze kept her expression level as she studied his handsome face, still feeling very uneasy about this whole thing. And as others came and congratulated them, the cat let Sonic do all the talking, a role he seemed to relish. Showing her off to all his friends... all she did was smile and nod, and kept holding onto Sonic's hand. Why was he acting so... flustered? In the short time she'd known Sonic, Blaze had come to think of him as fairly cool headed and mellow... certainly not the way he was acting now.

Did he really, really care for her that much? What did that feel like, anyway? Blaze had no idea, but she did know that she certainly _was not_ feeling anything close to what would make her blush and laugh as much as he was at the moment. He kept glancing back at her, grinning and winking... the more Blaze's discomfort grew. The whole thing just felt... off.

_How did I get in this situation?_

Sonic led her back over to a certain two-tailed fox, who was gaping.

_"Sonic?" _Tails repeated, still in a daze. _"_You and _Blaze_, really?"

"Yep, heh heh," Sonic used his free hand to grab one of his quills. "Aren't we the most awesome couple ever?"

Tails just blinked. He hadn't seen this one coming. Not even close. He'd never thought that the hedgehog would pair up, _at all,_ let alone with Blaze, whom they'd known for... less than a month. He'd always thought Amy would one day get him...

"Oh c'mon, you guys are acting like this is..._ wrong_ or something."

Tails sighed, and couldn't stop his eyes from darting over to where Amy had ran, knowing that this was going to cause a ton of heartache on Amy's behalf. And he was going to be doing part of the mop-up. "Look, Sonic... I'm happy for you two. Have... fun, okay?" he said and forced a smile before walking off.

Now it was Sonic's turn to frown. _Well jeez, thanks lil bro... good to know you have my back... why does everyone and my brother seem against this? What's wrong with Blaze?_

_Nothing that I can see,_ Sonic thought as he glanced back at her, his heart skipping at her beauty. A_h well, blazing my own trail, doin' my own thing... I'm used to it. Us against the world, Blaze._

After Blaze was quite sure they'd gone through the whole line of guests twice, she leaned in closer to her boyfriend and muttered, "Do we have to stay here?"

"Here, at the party?" He confirmed, realizing that Blaze had never been one for social events.

"Yes. Why don't we go somewhere el-"

"You got it," Sonic interrupted and then, laughing cockily, scooped Blaze into his arms and took off at the speed of sound, out of the party without warning.

Blaze almost shrieked in surprise as the suddenness hit her, and she felt overwhelmingly dizzy at the blur of colors rushing around her. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to summon her flames, for she knew that if she created them now, with how close Sonic was to her, she would possibly burn his whole body, and then he would drop her, which would hurt like nobody's business. Sonic _was _close to her, she realized. His arms were gripping her body tightly. Once again, she'd never been this close to anyone before... and it felt uncomfortable.

Before the cat could even protest, Sonic had come to a very sudden halt, and it took Blaze a full 10 seconds to gain her bearings. He had brought her to the very center of the island they were on, a meadow full of flowers. It figured... Sonic had never been a big fan of water. And this was as far from H2O as one could get on a world full of islands.

"I can run, too, Sonic," Blaze said, almost indignantly, brushing off her shirt when he set her on her feet.

"Yeah, too slow," Sonic teased with a wink.

"Hmph," Blaze huffed, suddenly unamused at his attitude.

"Hey, I was just kiddin'... can't you take a joke?" He tilted his head, but when she didn't answer, he continued. "Gotta lighten up some... You know, Blaze, you really should smile more often. You look much more pretty that way."

Again, Blaze hadn't the slightest clue how to respond to that. Should she thank him? Was he just saying that? Was this how couples were supposed to act? "Thank you."

"You deserve it, Blaze. So... ya might be wonderin' why I brought you here, huh?... This is where I first realized that I loved you."

A much more_ romantic_ girl would've eaten the whole thing up, squealed and told Sonic how much she loved the gesture... but Blaze was not a natural romantic. She could only frown a little, but before she could turn away awkwardly from shyness, she realized that Sonic had moved in front of her, his hands now curving around her waist. Blaze blinked at his suddenness, surprised as his face drew closer and closer to her own.

He was going to kiss her, now? _Right now_? Panic flooded her system, but she couldn't get away. Did she really want to?

Finally, their lips met, and both the hedgehog and cat shared their first kiss. Sonic felt his whole being melt at her lips molding against his, and couldn't resist pulling her even closer against him. His entire body was tingling with all the pleasure he had ever felt until now. He was quite sure that he was floating on some cloud right now, in pure bliss. He was kissing Blaze... oh, what more could he want?

As his lips brushed against her, Blaze found her eyes had opened and she studied Sonic's eyelids. He obviously was enjoying it, throwing his whole passion into it, kissing her deeply. But as Blaze searched her own heart, she found... nothing. There were no pleasurable emotions stirring in the organ. Blaze simply felt nothing but the physical flesh of his lips caressing hers.

Oh, but was she just thinking too much? _Should_ she feel something? Was this how a kiss worked? Should she just... submit somehow? Blaze was about to close her eyes and try to enjoy the kiss when Sonic opened his.

"What's wrong?" he whispered against her mouth, feeling her hesitancy.

His gaze was so tender and loving, his green eyes soft... but Blaze felt so... awkward. So... odd. "Sorry..." she apologized. "I'm just not used to this..."

Sonic gnawed at his lip, slightly annoyed. Why was she being so _difficult?_ Did she not want to kiss him? "Hey, we can learn, right?" he said eagerly, wanting to try.

"...right..." Blaze agreed, and forced her eyes shut when Sonic kissed her again.

She tried to relax and enjoy being held by Sonic, but all Blaze felt was... tense and awkward. After a few more minutes of uncomfortable kissing, Sonic finally pulled away, though he had fully enjoyed the actions. He'd never felt so good in his life. The new couple lay down on the soft grass bathed in the inky blackness of night, studying the stars. Finally feeling more comfortable, Blaze told Sonic about the constellations of her world, and pointed them out to him. Sonic had a blast, just getting to cuddle with his new girlfriend.

After a time they both agreed it was time to head in for the night, but Blaze insisted that she return to the royal palace alone.

"Alright, then. Good night, Blaze," Sonic said, giving her one more kiss before releasing her. Maybe this hadn't been perfect... but for once in his life, Sonic the Hedgehog was willing to wait. 'Cause Blaze was worth it, to him.

"Good night, Sonic," Blaze said, but as she headed home, couldn't help but feel troubled.

...xxx...A/N...xxx...

Oh c'mon, you all knew it was Blaze. :P By the way, this is set after Sonic Rush Adventure the game, but everyone is a year or two older.

I know parts were a bit painful to read, but don't be hating, I have a plan and a reason. This is a SonAmy story... but I'm taking a detour.

Sonic, being Sonic, is rushing into things. He quickly developed an intense infatuation for Blaze, and as usual, rushed into a relationship without thinking. And Blaze accepted because she's not all too familiar with relationships, romantic or friendship. Being a solitary guardian all her life, she's just now becoming social, and doesn't get what these feelings are all about. And I know they seem... awkward around each other, and like they don't fit... that was the point. That will be important later.

My thought process on choosing Sonic's girl, for those who care:

Well... I couldn't do Cream, since she's half his age. Cosmo is too young, Sonic wouldn't do that to his lil bro, and she's, well, dead. I don't know the Archie characters... at all, so no Sally or Mina or any of them. Same with Tiara. Eilse is a human, and I don't do beastiality. Tikal, Wave, Shade? There really wasn't enough appeal or drama with them.

Rouge? Honestly, I don't mind SonicxRouge, in certain circumstances, it's oddly appealing. In fact, in my original, original plan, she was the one. But... when I took the two of them dating to the logical conclusion... Rouge didn't fit the role I had in mind for the girl... as you'll see in later chapters. If you reread chapter one, you'll notice that "she" said nothing when Amy started dissing both her and Sonic. Do you really think ROUGE wouldn't rub it in Amy's face with her comebacks?

Which left Blaze. She fit the role like a glove; almost too well. Besides, I like Blaze. I did sorta like that couple before SonAmy took over my life. :P I have a lot more to say about Sonaze, but I'll leave that to the writing itself.

Sorry for all the notes... ^^' Next chapter soon...


	3. Friends Like These

Mist Valley Apex Avian, Writer's Freedom, Sonamy Lover, SwedenSpeedway, Novus Umbra, poka, The Cinderninja, Soul the Catt, 01sonamy01, CherrletheChicken, rugtugba, Sonic Speed Blue Blur 23, IHeartSonAmy, SugarhogRose, Tornad0Watch, enustikehtelkcaJ, Mike Prower the Fox, Alyssacookie, Welshausten, Anonymous Steve, sinister showdown, Lexi the Hedgehog, SkulY2K, Steveice10, Mana the Cat Magician: ... Something very, very, very strange happened to my eyes while I was typing all those names. Have I ever said that I LOVE YOU GUYS? I can't believe it. I thought this story was going to break me as a writer and you all would turn your backs on me. It's funny, I thought the same thing with my story Passion. And that became one of my most popular stories.

Oh, I'm getting all mushy. :'') But I've never gotten over 20 reviews on one chapter before... you guys are a-freaking-mazing.

Enjoy chapter 3. Your patience and tolerance will be rewarded. But you might wanna pull out some Kleenex...

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Chapter 3: Friends Like These

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

With the raising of the sun, two of the young'ins in the house arose_, _but tread quietly across the floor lest they wake up the others. Cream and Tails met right outside Marine's large house that most of them were staying in, whispering softly together, the first rays of dawn caressing their bodies.

"Tails..." Cream said pitifully, her chocolate brown eyes threatening to spill tears.

The fox frowned and gently put his arm around her shoulders, but blushed deeply when Cream increased the contact to wrap him in a complete hug, resting her sweet little head on his shoulder.

"How's Amy doing?" he asked, shaking off the butterflies to focus on the task.

"Oh Tails... she cried all night. I can't even talk to her... she's just so sad... Sonic means so much to her... and now he's dating Blaze. I want to be happy for Blaze and Sonic but... Amy's just won't stop crying..."

Tails frowned, but started stroking Cream's back and ears. "It's okay, Cream."

"But Tails, what can we do?" she asked, pulling back a little to look straight at the fox, into his deep blue eyes.

"I don't know. I guess... I'll have to talk with Sonic. If he likes Blaze then... we'll have to be happy for him, but... I'll try and get him to talk with Amy."

"Do you think that will help?"

"I don't know what else to do..."

Cream frowned. The little rabbit was feeling torn between her two best friends. Amy she had known longer and was really closer than a sister to her, but Blaze was also a good friend, one that she had sort of "adopted." Blaze had seemed so lonely when they'd first met, and Cream had been eager to befriend her... and she wanted the cat to be happy. Sonic was also a friend...

"Tails... I don't want to choose between my friends... I like all of them," Cream said, tears pricking her eyes.

"Me either, Cream... but..." he hesitated and blushed. "At least we have each other, right?"

Cream's little heart warmed, and she smiled softly, making Tails feel a little better. "Let's... try and help all three of them, and not choose sides."

"Okay, I'll try talking with Amy and Blaze..."

"... and I'll talk with Sonic," Tails finished.

...xxx...

The thing about waking up is, you have to actually be asleep first.

But Amy Rose had spent the whole night tossing and turning, sniffing and sobbing, wailing and whimpering, moaning and moping. She hadn't been able to even consider sleep, not in this heartbroken state. Her heart had been ripped out and her hope crushed, leaving the girl in excruciating pain and utter despair.

The pink hedgehog lay in a crumpled ball on a borrowed bed from Marine, tears still flowing down her muzzle, dripping off her nose and chin, and creating a bitter salty flavor on her lips. After gripping her fuzzy pillow closer, trying _not_ to pretend and hope and wish it was Sonic himself, she tried to turn over onto her other side. But since she was still wearing the ugly dress that she'd had on last night, the tight fabric constricted her wilted frame, squeezing the life out of her. If she had any more left.

_Ooooh... why... why... Sonic... why her... Blaze... Sonic... it's not fair... what's wrong with me? Why **Blaze**? _

The same depressing thoughts played in Amy's head over and over like a broken record, and she continued sobbing into her already soaked pillow.

_Oh... I never had a chance, did I? She's everything I'm not... older, gorgeous, a better fighter, skinny, pretty, graceful, a feline... I'm just not good enough for him.  
_

_I'm just... ugly, and fat, and annoying, and stupid, and... and Oh it's not fair! I love Sonic_ so_ much, but he's... he's... with her. He honestly, truly doesn't love me... he... doesn't care. I could die and he wouldn't care... he'd probably throw another party._

_Oh, the** party**... this is the only reason he wanted to come back to this stupid, ugly world... because of Blaze... Ugh...  
_

_But Sonic... he's all I want, he's just so... **perfect **and ... but he doesn't love me... all I wanted was him... he was my everything... and now, he's with her... he doesn't care about me, one lick, one bit, he's just... so oblivious... he's giving all those cute looks to Blaze, and** she **gets to kiss him, hold him... love him...but she could never love him like I do. She just can't...  
_

_It's just not fair... I gave Sonic everything, everything! Everything, every part of me, every day. I would do anything for him... but he doesn't care. He loves someone else. He loves that ugly kitty... Grrrrrrr... she's such a witch. The way she was taunting me, looking at me like 'I have what you never will'. What an ugly, stupid witch. I hate her, she doesn't deserve Sonic. He's so good and kind and a hero, and she's just a freaking, flaming slut. _

_What does he see in her? What does she have that I don't? _

_Sonic... _

_OH why do you play with my heart like this? I hate you, Sonic. I hate every inch of you. Oh... why did you even give me any hope at all? Why do you have to be so... hot and captivating and perfect and handsome? Why do you have me wrapped around your finger? And why are you so nice to everyone in the whole world but me? Why do you hate me so much? Why, Sonic? Why not me? What's wrong, why can't you just... give me a chance? Am I really that ugly and awful? Why can't you... _

_Oh, why Blaze? Why do you have to love her, Sonic?  
_

_Oh... if he really does love her... then what am I going to doooooo? I'm going to die... I can't get over him... you don't understand... he still has my heart.  
_

_Yes... after all this, after all his mean words, and how much he avoids me, and even though he belongs to someone else... I still love him. _

_And I always will. _

_I'm just... destined to be forever chasing Sonic the freaking Hedgehog, with his cocky, self absorbed attitude, and always losing when he ignores me and runs off, leaving me without a care in the world. I'm destined to be unhappy, suffering from a bout of unrequited love._

With those thoughts replaying in her head over and over, Amy continued sobbing in despair through the night and into late morning.

_"Amy?"_

The thirteen-year-old pink hedgehog turned in the direction of the door and the voices, but her tears prevented her from making out the figures. She could tell that one was taller than the other, and they looked similar, but...

"Cream, dear, why don't you go keep Marine company?"

Vanilla? Had she really come with them? Amy tried to think back, but her memory was stuck on those cold, cruel words: _"You don't own me. We were always friends; nothing's changed. I never liked you like that." _Oh, and the images, Sonic's lovestruck expression as he looked at Blaze..._ too much...  
_

"But Mom... I want to help."

"Please, dear, let me speak with Amy."

"Oh, alright..."

The older rabbit started approaching Amy's bedside, but the girl buried herself deeper under the warm covers, not wanting to talk to anyone.

"Please, Ms. Vanilla..." she choked, "I just want to be alone..."

"Now, now, dearie, you've been alone all night and morning, with just your thoughts. It's time to get up now, honey. You can't stay in bed all day."

_Why not, I have no reason to get up_, Amy thought bitterly and gnawed at her lip. The sound of a zipper hit her ears, and Amy's brow furrowed. Next came the sound of someone rummaging through a pile of clothes...

"Now, Amy, why don't you go get cleaned up? I have a nice new dress out here for you to wear. Marine's mother and I have made some blueberry pancakes, too."

"I'm not hungry," Amy tried to growl, but it just came out as a muffled whimper.

Footsteps approached Amy's bed, but she crumpled herself into a tighter ball, wanting to just disappear and die.

"Oh, honey, I know that it hurts... but laying and bed won't help anything. Why don't you get up, and we'll have a chat, hmm?"

Fresh tears poured out of Amy's eyes, and she had to sniff loudly. The mucous was almost gushing out of her nose at this point. She swallowed painfully, sending some of the overflow down her throat. "Uh... okay," she muttered half heartedly.

"Alright, Amy... I'll talk with you over breakfast."

With that, Vanilla left Amy in bed. The girl lay there for a few seconds before groaning and throwing off the covers, then slid across the bed. Her bare feet hit the cold wood floor, and then the girl finally brought herself upright. The jade green dress that she'd picked out fell down her frame, finally able to be free. Sighing, the girl grabbed the cherry red dress that Vanilla had taken out of her traveling suitcase and started heading for the bathroom.

Just when she was about to enter the room to wash her face, Amy heard a smooth, deep voice call out, one that she loved a little too much.

"Later lil bro, I'm off to see _Blaze_!"

_Ouch..._

The following rush of air and sonic boom was worse than a punch to the stomach.

Falling against the bathroom door, Amy squeezed her eyes shut and groaned as an awful pain clutched her broken heart. "Oh... _Sonic..._"

He really, really_ didn't _love her that way. He loved Blaze. But Amy's feelings hadn't evaporated in the least... _Oh..._

Pushing her body back upright, Amy forced herself into the bathroom to get ready for what would only be one of the worst days of her life...

...xxx...

Sonic could count on one hand the things he enjoyed more than watching the sun come up. There was something just so magical about the landscape being completely dark, and all objects indiscernible and obscure, dressed in the inky darkness of night... and then, gradually, the sun peeked over the horizon to reveal the world, painting the sky with streaks of warm colors in the process. Sunrises were just so unforgettable - every day a new color. Plus, the mornings were usually cool - which was great running weather.

But on this particular morning, the soon-to-be-seventeen-year-old hedgehog had slept in, for he had stayed up half the night in a love-struck daze, running laps around their island, not able to settle down long enough to even think about sleeping. The sun, now higher in the sky than usual when he woke up, stung Sonic's green eyes when he parted his eyelids.

"uh..." he muttered and turned over onto his side, blinking to try and gain his bearings.

He was used to getting up in odd places - sleeping in trees and on rooftops had proven to be dangerous before - but now, all he was seeing was the interior of an unfamiliar home. What, had he actually slept in a bed like a normal person? After one of the best days of his life, ever? That was odd.

He yawned loudly, and then wiped the sleep out of his eyes in one motion before jumping out of the bed, ready to hit the ground running. But as soon as his body slipped off, he found himself flying upwards, through the air. Sonic let out a yelp and started kicking his feet, but his legs met with nothing but air. He growled, but could do nothing as he found himself, oddly enough, hanging upside down, dangling from the ceiling, a rope wrapped around his foot that was attached to a hook.

What? How did... who would...

_"Tails!" _

As if he'd been expecting thi_s, _the ten year old fox peeked his head around the corner of the room they were sharing, an almost-sheepish smile on his muzzle.

"Yes, Sonic?"

"What's the idea?" he demanded, wiggling uncomfortably in his odd predicament.

For a moment Tails just stared at his brother and tried not to laugh at how funny he looked, hanging upside down helplessly, his quills all pointing below his head thanks to gravity. But at the remembrance of_ why_ he'd had to tie a rope around his leg to prevent Sonic from just taking off in the morning, Tails easily swallowed the laughter and crossed his arms, trying to be serious.

"I want to know what the deal is between you and Blaze," he said firmly.

Sonic furrowed his brow. "What the _deal_ is? We're together. Can I go now?" He demanded impatiently.

Tails studied his brother's expression. "Sonic... what's wrong with you? You're not thinking clearly. Don't you realize what this is doing to everyone?"

Sonic didn't respond.

"You're obviously not. I mean, you and Blaze... you didn't even tell me you liked her, you've known her not even a month... and now you're _dating_?"

"_Together_," Sonic corrected. "And honestly, I didn't really know that I loved her until... a few days ago, when we got back to our world. I..."

He smiled a dumb grin and sighed contentedly, in spite of anything else, and brought a hand up to his chest, trying to somehow contain the sudden burst of pleasurable sensations in his heart as Blaze popped into his head.

"I dunno what happened Tails... it's like... I feel so much... and... I'm just head over _heels _for the girl. I dunno, it just sorta... happened."

"You mean you just randomly woke up one day and had feelings for Blaze?"Tails asked, frowning at the impracticality.

"Pretty much," Sonic said, and would've shrugged if he had been upright. "I mean, if a guy's in love, a guy's in love, Tails. What else can I say?"

Tails shook his head, and Sonic furrowed his brow deeper. Again, why was Tails so upset that he had a girlfriend now? "What's wrong with Blaze?"

"Nothing's wrong with her, Sonic... it's just..." he trailed off, suddenly feeling awful for interrogating Sonic and hooking him to the ceiling like this.

"Wait a minute.._. Amy_ put you up to this didn't she? That girl is such a_ pain_...So_ obsessive_ and_ possessive_. She thinks she owns me, and just wants to make me into her dream_ husband_," he visibly shuddered at the word, "and just hug and squeeze me all day. She doesn't love me... But Blaze," a smile reappeared, "she lets me be free, be who I am. She doesn't want me to be anything but Sonic."

"Actually, Amy didn't put me up to this." _She's been too busy crying her eyes out. _"This is just me checking on my brother."

"Hey, _I'm _supposed to be the older one, remember?"

_Sometimes I wonder..._ "But Sonic... at least promise me you'll _talk_ to Amy? I mean, she's pretty upset..."

Sonic groaned, desperately looking to change the subject. The last thing he wanted to do right now was think about and talk to Amy. The girl was probably going to kill him... _ No, I shouldn't feel guilty_. _Amy and I never even went out once! She just needs to grow up..._ "Oh... why do you care so much about her? You_ like_ her or something?" Now _there_ would be a good way to get Amy off of him...

Tails shook his head. "Of course not. But she's a friend and-"

"So it's _Cream_, then?"

A very visible blush exploded on Tails' face at the rabbit's name, but Tails tried to brush off his embarrassment to frown. What had gotten into him? Sonic was acting so strange. Since when did he care about love and romance and girls this much? And why was he being so selfish?

Tails sighed and started twirling his namesakes, propelling himself up towards the loop to unhook the hedgehog. "Look, Sonic... I'm sorry for doing this but... Just... Promise me you'll talk to Amy, okay? You can't tell me you care so _little_ for what this is doing to her..."

Guilt. "Oh...what do you want me to say to her?" Sonic asked, biting his lip.

"I don't know but... you can't leave her like this, she's really upset, and she hasn't stopped crying-"

More guilt twinged his heart, and Sonic felt the familiar urge to leave his problems in the dust. "Okay, I'll talk to Amy... now will ya let me down? Blaze is probably getting worried-"

"Do you _promise_, Sonic?"

Cerulean and jade eyes locked for a minute, but with Sonic in his inverted state, they didn't quite see eye to eye. Sonic couldn't help but frown. Why did Amy always have to get in the way of _everything_ that he did? He had a girlfriend now, so sue him for actually being a normal teen for once. Didn't he have the right to date - errr, _be with,_ whomever he wanted to?

Still... part of his heart was telling him that he couldn't lie to Tails. Once he promised the little fox something, he'd be bound by their unbreakable bond of brotherhood. He would have to keep his word. And besides... he knew that he was being a little selfish, and he really_ should _have a chat with Amy... although the very prospect scared the chili dogs out of him.

"_Promise_." He blinked. "Now, lemme down, the blood's rushing to my head."

_You think with your feet anyway._

Tails sighed and untied the rope, but lifted it higher so Sonic could spin and right himself, landing on his feet. After the second it took the hedgehog to loose the rope from around his foot, he shot Tails a smile at realizing he was free and going to see his beautiful _girlfriend._

"Later lil bro, I'm off to see _Blaze_!" And just like that, he was gone.

Tails had to frown once the air settled down after the hedgehog left. Typical Sonic... rushing into what he didn't know, leaving others behind. It was about time that he got a girl though... he was a solid sixteen. Maybe he fell in love fast, but surely he would fall just as quickly out. This was a phase, a crush. It wouldn't last longer than the week. Surely.

What Tails was really worried about, was Amy. The poor, poor girl... at least she had _Cream_ to talk to, who could make anyone feel better, Tails knew.

After putting the rope away, the confused fox sighed and headed to the main room of Marine's house, bracing himself for the state that Amy would be in...

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

I tried to go with some parallel/simultaneous structure here, to compare the moods of both hedgehogs side by side in one chapter. I think I'm going to be doing that throughout the story... we'll see.

Sonic and Amy each have their advocates or friends. Amy has Cream and Vanilla. The reason I added Vanilla into this story is because she is one of the ONLY people who can give Amy good advice... and that's what she really needs now. A motherly figure. She doesn't need another boy.

And Sonic has Tails... I know, a lot of you are about ready to kill Sonic, cause he is being a bit of a jerk, but you gotta remember who he is and what he's feeling... he's got a big crush, and most of us know what that's like. :D Plus he's got the girl, so he's feeling pretty good about himself. But don't worry... he's not going to stay like this. }:) I have a nefarious _plan_ for Mr. Who-wouldn't-date-me-I'm-so-full-of-myself. }:)

OH, and I got this random idea of Tails hooking up Sonic to the ceiling so he wouldn't just take off when he woke up, and him hanging upside down while they talked, and I thought that bit of humor would lighten the story up some. Plus it's a little symbolic, too... not that I EVER use symbolism...

Ya know, I just realized something. The expression "head over heels" (which is my title) just means you're crazily infatuated, but really, it doesn't make sense. If you're standing upright, your head IS ALREADY over your heels... Isn't that odd? Maybe it's _supposed _to be strange, like when someone is in that state nothing is really logical. I guess it just means that you're spinning around and crazy in love. So when Sonic is hanging upside down... his heels are over his head... I tried to tie that into the title...but whatever, I'm not making sense.

Chapter 4 could be up as soon as tomorrow, depending on my inspiration. Right now, my brain wants to write later chapters (the "good parts"), never the one I'm on... oh well.


	4. Split In Two

01sonamy01, MyLoveForYou, PastaxRocks, Alyssacookie, Tornad0Watch, enustikehtelkcaJ, Mana the Cat Magician, Mist Valley Apex Avian, Novus Umbra, CherrletheChicken, SugarhogRose, Writer's Freedom, IHeartSonAmy: Good to see you all hanging in there! This chapter should be more to your liking, I hope...

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

Chapter 4: Split In Two

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

A gentle breeze stirred two pale yellow curtains that were framing the corners of a stone window. The sun was rising in the sky, casting its rays through said window, though the early colors of dawn had already blended into a lovely baby blue color, signaling a new day.

Blaze awoke from a rather distressed, disturbed sleep, her golden eyes making an appearance to study the ceiling. After a few seconds of scattered, still-sleepy thoughts, the light purple cat slipped out of bed and quickly got dressed before heading over to the window, her bare feet shivering as they made their way across the cold stone floor.

It was times like these, as she looked down at the bustling castle life below her, that Blaze wondered if she'd made the right choice to come back to the castle she'd been born in.

When she'd been named Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, Blaze had been told she was destined for a life of hardship and solitude, guarding the precious, powerful gems as her duty. It was quite a job for a thirteen year old, placing the entire kingdom on her under-developed shoulders. But Blaze had managed well enough, with just her flames for company. All other people had called her a freak.

Oh, but it was better that she was born this way, with her pyrokinesis. Blaze knew that. Better her guardianship than being a typical princess, who would only eventually end up being a political pawn to be married off. As she grew up through her early teen years, Blaze had come to accept her isolated life of duty. And now, at sixteen years old, after she had come back to her world after meeting Sonic and his friends, she had patched things up between herself and her royal family. They had accepted her warmly, glad that she was back, and insisted that she live in the castle, as a true princess would. Blaze didn't mind either way; she only came to the castle to sleep and eat.

She sighed as she remembered what today would likely hold for her. Sonic had told her last night that he'd be along in the morning to pick her up to go on a date.

Sonic. The name was so... uncomfortable to her. Honestly, Blaze wasn't really looking forward to seeing him this morning, and was glad that he was running a little late. It gave her time to think and consider what was she was feeling about this whole... _relationship._

Her ungloved hands absentmindedly started fiddling with the lemon hued curtains, caressing the soft fabric as her stomach did a nervous flip flop.

Uneasy.

_That's _what she was feeling. Just... nervous, unsettled, and awkward. She had felt nothing when Sonic had kissed her, nothing when he'd cuddled with her under the stars, nothing when he'd given her all those tender looks. Blaze just didn't have any feelings for Sonic, plain and simple. She certainly wasn't feeling whatever it was that Sonic felt that made him do all those things. Surely, she couldn't be, otherwise she wouldn't be almost dreading seeing him today.

_Did I make a mistake by telling Sonic that I would date him?_ Blaze wondered as she let go of the curtain. _Did I not think things out well enough? I really didn't want to turn him down or know how to, but... I don't believe that I'm ready for this yet. He always likes to rush into things... but I'd rather take it slow and think it through. Yesterday... it was like he was going too fast and pressuring me... and I didn't even have time to develop any feelings. I don't want to open up to him just yet. I'll have to tell him that later today... I just hope that he understands. _

The reason Blaze hadn't told Sonic yesterday about her feelings (or lack thereof) was because she wanted to sleep on it, seeing if perhaps she was just being weird about this whole dating thing, seeing how inexperienced she was. But the night time had revealed nothing to her besides the fact that perhaps, after all, she really didn't have any romantic attraction to Sonic.

The hard part would be telling him that she'd made a mistake. But Blaze knew she'd have to_ - _for she couldn't keep fooling and pretending that she loved him, if all she felt was a void. She would have to be firm and tell the truth.

Just when she was about to turn away from her window to finish getting ready, a streak of teal light caught her eye, giving the cat pause. A familiar figure flew into view, floating just a few feet from her window.

"Silver," she breathed, and found herself smiling_ before she could even think about it. _

"Hi Blaze," the shiny-gray hedgehog called in response, his cheeks turning pink at seeing the princess standing at her window, looking quite stunning.

"Are you going to come in?" Blaze asked somewhat hopefully, stepping backwards a little to signal the hedgehog he could enter.

"Err... if you don't mind..." he said awkwardly, blushing lightly.

"No, come in," Blaze offered, still smiling as a weird sensation turned over in her heart.

Silver, a castle guard, was one of the few people Blaze enjoyed talking to. He didn't rush her, didn't pressure her to be someone she wasn't, didn't fight with her, ever. In fact, most of the time he was almost afraid of disagreeing with her, of upsetting her. He was just... refreshing, in a castle filled with politics. She considered him, along with the short list of Sonic and Cream, a true friend.

As his boots came to rest on the stone floor of Blaze's room, Silver retracted his psychic energy and let a lopsided smile come over his muzzle as he admired the lavender cat. Silver had come to know her slowly over the past month, since the guardian had agreed to come back to the castle. Being a castle guard, the two of them had crossed paths quite often, sometimes even working together to stop Eggman Nega. She truly was his best friend, as Silver didn't take to the other guards, and Blaze was often at odds with her own siblings. Why, Silver had even stuck up for her when the other princesses had teased Blaze about her flames. Silver hated injustice, and understood Blaze, for he had been born with powers, too.

"Well?"

Silver blushed deeper when he realized he'd just been staring. "Oh, I just came to say sorry that I wasn't at the party yesterday. I had night duty."

Blaze smiled. "Yet you're still up early. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. I didn't stay long either."

"Oh, okay, and uh, I wanted to ask you something."

The cat watched him stumble over his words. Silver had never exuded complete confidence like Sonic did, nor was he nearly as easygoing as the blue hedgehog. He was quieter, more serious, more thoughtful...

The silver hedgehog turned away for a moment, his oddly-shaped quills ruffled in a breeze just like the curtains had been. Blaze tilted her head and found her eyes drifting over his body unconsciously -

"Blaze! Sorry I'm late!" A rushed, deep voice interrupted her thoughts, and Blaze reluctantly turned her back on Silver to look at her boyfriend.

Sonic continued, talking quickly, "Tails decided to play a practical_ joke _on me, but anyway, I picked you some-"

He froze, just now noticing a male hedgehog standing right behind her. All the blood drained from Sonic's face. What... what was_ he_ doing in_ here_?

"Blaze, who _is_ this guy?" Silver asked curiously, and for once, Sonic was beaten to the question, for he was too stunned for words.

"Silver, this is Sonic," Blaze said, but couldn't bring herself to say, '_my boyfriend._'

"Hey, I'm Silver," the hedgehog said, walking around Blaze to extend his hand to Sonic, ignorant of the situation.

His mouth in an "O" shape, Sonic's eyes merely traced the teal circles decorating Silver's extended glove. Who was this guy, anyway? Silver? He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat and then transferred the yellow hyacinths and daffodils he'd picked on the way here to his left hand so he could shake.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," he deadpanned, and his green eyes shifted over to Blaze, who was awkwardly avoiding his gaze. "And what exactly are you doing in my girlfriend's room?"

Silver froze. _"Girlfriend? _Blaze, is this._.."_ he echoed, then looked back at the cat.

Blaze met his eyes. "Yes, Silver. That's what I was about to tell you. Sonic and I are in a relationship." _An odd, awkward relationship... "_And don't worry Sonic, Silver just came to visit me._"  
_

Silver looked like he'd been shot.

"Well, nice to meet you, Silver," Sonic said in a genuinely friendly voice, his hostility instantly dropped at hearing Blaze's confirmation. She made him _that_ happy. He let go of the other hedgehog's hand. "Are you a friend of Blaze's?"

Silver could barely bring himself to nod, not sure why the news of Blaze having a boyfriend... _bothered_ him so very much.

"Well, a friend of Blaze's is a friend of mine." The cat internally winced at Sonic's words, though she wasn't sure why...

Sonic then turned to his girl, allowing a smile to spread over his muzzle. "Blaze, you look beautiful, as always. I picked you some flowers this morning." He extended the rather humble bouquet towards the cat.

Blaze blinked at the posies, but accepted them, trying not to touch Sonic's hand during the transfer... but the hedgehog wrapped his larger ones around hers anyway.

"Do ya like them?" Sonic asked tenderly, bringing himself closer to her.

"Yeah, they're nice..." she said, telling a little white lie (as she'd never been a big fan of flowers), trying not to back off completely, though how close Sonic was made her so uncomfortable...

Without wasting any time, Sonic went for a quick but deep kiss, his heart skipping around his chest as he felt the softness of Blaze's lips. Man, how did he get to be so lucky? Though... why did she always feel so tense in his arms? He knew that Blaze wasn't used to contact, but still... she loved him, right? She had to...

Pulling back from her lips to study her lovely face, Sonic found himself smiling regardless. Blaze made him feel good anyhow. "Hey, I got an idea for today. Would ya like to do some exploring? I'd love for you to show me around your world," he said, letting one of his hands caress the velvety fur on her face.

Blaze nodded. "That sounds fine to me, Sonic. I would like to have a word with you later, though."

Sonic shrugged. "Alright. You ready now?"

Blaze nodded again, but wiggled out of Sonic's arms. "Just let me get my shoes."

After this retrieval, Blaze took Sonic's hand, but before they left, she couldn't help but glance backwards at a disconsolate Silver, almost wishing that she was going to spend the day with him instead. Because for whatever reason, unlike Sonic, Silver had given her an indescribable _feeling. _

...xxx...

Scrape, scrape, scrape.

So went the sound of Amy's fork as she pushed it across her plate, rolling her blueberry pancakes through more and more syrup. So far not even one little piece of the pancake had made their way into her mouth; the only thing feasting on them was Amy's dull, lifeless eyes.

Vanilla the Rabbit looked across the table at her quasi adopted daughter, her heart emphasizing with the young, brokenhearted teen. The rabbit had always had a soft spot for Amy, and since the girl was an orphan, Vanilla viewed her as a daughter by all but blood. A while back she'd even tried to get the girl to come and live with her and Cream, but Amy had been insistent that she could take care of herself, as long as... Sonic was still around. It was always about _Sonic_ with this one.

Oh, but Vanilla understood. In fact, Amy reminded her of a younger version of herself. For once upon a time, she had been thirteen, and had what now seemed like a silly crush on a boy, though at the time, when he'd broken her heart, it had seemed much more important. A lot had happened since then, more men, eventually leading up to her deceased husband... Vanilla smiled in nostalgia. One day, Amy will be looking back on this, and telling her children about how when she was thirteen, a boy broke her heart. One day, Amy would move on, and find someone to love her in return. Vanilla was sure of it; she'd seen a lot in her 20-something (nearly 30-something) years.

Still, while she had been waiting for Amy to start the conversation, Vanilla figured she might have to jump start it.

"Amy, dear... how do you like the pancakes?"

Her fork stopped scraping, and Amy pushed the full, messy plate to the middle of the table.

"I know what you're going to tell me," the pink hedgehog muttered before lifting her dark green eyes up to face the older rabbit. "That I should move on. That Sonic isn't worth it. That he's just a big jerk and he doesn't deserve me and I can do much, much better than him. Right?"

Her pitch was soft, but there was no mistaking the bitterness and emotion behind those words.

"Well, Ms. Vanilla, if that's what you're going to say... you're wrong."

Vanilla smiled once again. She'd seen this coming, but decided to hear Amy out.

"Because," she choked on an unexpected sob, "Sonic... he's... I'm not giving up on him. He's really not a jerk, Ms. Vanilla. He's not. He's good and kind and heroic... and... I plan on waiting for him. He's worth it, to me. He's worth _everything_ to me."

Her green eyes were filled to the brim with tears, and even a slight disturbance would cause them to overflow. Both gloved hands were clenched into fists, and her mouth was set in a stubborn, determined line. Amy had never been one to give up easily.

Vanilla took a sip of tea. "How long are you going to wait on that boy, Amy?"

"As long as it takes," she said gently but stubbornly.

Vanilla sighed. Once again, she'd seen this coming a mile away... but that didn't mean Amy was right.

"Amy," Vanilla reached across the table to place her hand on top of the distressed girl's. "You're only thirteen, honey. You have a long, long life ahead of you. There will be other boys-"

_"Who?"_ Amy demanded, her temper flaring up without warning. "I don't see anyone else I want. I never will. I made up my mind a long time ago, that no matter what... Sonic would have a place in my heart. Forever. That I would always love him. I would choose him over the world. I decided that I would wait for him, even if it took the rest of my life..."

"Oh dear," Vanilla muttered, deep in thought. She hadn't expected this to be easy, but she thought that Amy would be just upset, and wanting to get over him. Vanilla had been prepared to nurse a broken heart, but this... this might be harder than she thought. She took another sip of tea to finish it, and set the empty cup down.

"Are you going to eat those pancakes?" Vanilla asked.

Amy shook her head and repeated, "I'm not hungry."

"Alright, then, how about we go on a walk? Marine has told me that this island really is beautiful..."

The brokenhearted girl's eyes wandered over to the open window, and studied the rhythmic pattern of the dark blue waves crashing down on the nearby beach. A few koalas and other people were outside, surfing, sunbathing, and playing in the sand, continuing their lives as if nothing had changed, nothing was different. But to Amy... everything had changed. Her whole hope and reason to get out of bed each day... had been taken from her, stolen by the graceful beauty of a princess she couldn't even hope to measure up to.

Amy scratched her head. Oh... what was she going to do now? She just felt so... lost. For five long, fruitless years, which really was as far back as she could remember, Amy had fallen head over heels for Sonic and chased him, helped him on his adventures, said she'd always be there for him. And now, after all that, what had Amy gotten in return from Sonic?

Nothing.

And every time,_ every time_, he'd ran from her, turning away in disgust, or just ignoring her. Every flipping time, he'd given her nothing. And yet she'd kept on. Why? Amy didn't know. But what she'd felt for Sonic hadn't died down at all. He'd just stolen her heart long ago, and still held the vital organ in his careless hands, and no matter what he did with it, Amy still loved him.

Still.

No matter what.

_Oh Sonic, you have no idea how much that hurts... to completely give yourself to someone and have them just ignore you. You have no idea... You've just been able to get whatever you want... you don't know... what it feels like to love someone, and have them just constantly break your heart... and yet still love them, no matter what they do to you. You don't know, Sonic... how I feel... and you won't even take a moment to hear me out..._

The wooden chair screeched across the floor as Amy stood up abruptly, signaling she'd like to go on that walk, if only to delay another round of tears. Vanilla smiled and stood up as well.

The first few minutes were spent in complete silence between the rabbit and hedgehog strolled around the island, taking in the beach, the meadow, the hills... if Amy had been any more cheery, she'd have enjoyed it and gushed about how _romantic_ the whole island was. But now... she could only think about how Sonic and his _girlfriend_ were enjoying it together. Without her. Sonic was always, always happy _without_ her.

Seeing Amy's eyes well up, Vanilla stopped and put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"You need to let him go, Amy. If Blaze really isn't the girl for him, then both of them will find out soon enough. But you, Amy... there are so many other things you should be doing than aching over that one boy. Life is too short to keep crying. There are plenty of more fish in the sea. Maybe Sonic-"

"You don't understand," Amy said sadly, her feet shuffling, kicking up dirt. "I can't let him go... don't you see that? I can't _just stop_ liking him! These feelings aren't things you can just turn on and off... Sonic has my heart. He always has, and he always will. I can't turn off my feelings for him. I wish I could. I wish I wasn't so... annoying about it. But I can't help it. I love him."

"Are you happy for him?"

Amy didn't respond, and dug her little fangs into her lower lip. Was she happy for Sonic? Amy didn't know, she was just downright heartbroken.

"Have you thought about_ him_, Amy? Sonic has feelings, too. Do you care about how he feels, and what he wants? Right now, he has feelings for Blaze. And if you truly loved him, you'd want him to be happy. If he's happy with Blaze, then you have to be happy for him. That's love, Amy. When you care more about the other person than yourself. When his happiness matters more than your happiness. That's how you know you love him, and it's not just a crush."

She sniffed as her eyes were overwhelmed by yet another flood of tears. Her eyes were trained solely onto her boots and her lip officially hurt. Amy was about to respond to Vanilla, but another voice beat her to it. A voice that she loved much, much, much too much. And another voice that she'd come to envy.

The famous blue hedgehog and lavender cat came into view, just a few feet below the hill that Amy and Vanilla were on, their hands linked. Sonic was laughing about something, sounding so adorable that Amy's heart hurt to hear him.

Jealousy flooded her veins as she eyed Blaze, wondering if there was way to get as skinny and tall and pretty and shapely as the cat was. Oh, what was it about her that made Sonic take notice? Was it the flames that turned him on?

As Amy eyed the couple, she felt nothing but envy and anger, her blood boiling, and she wanted nothing more than to storm right up to Sonic and pull her hammer on him and Blaze, screaming that Blaze could never love him like she did...

Sonic laughed again, though Blaze remained silent. As Amy saw all the joy and love on Sonic's face, it was like last night all over again, and she couldn't stop the sudden rush of tears. He was _so happy with **her**. _

Not wanting to see any more, knowing she couldn't take it, Amy turned on her heel to leave, her heart still painfully split in two.

One half that belonged to Sonic and wanted him to be happy... the other half that was selfish and just wanted Sonic on her own terms.

Little did the pink hedgehog know, that if she would've stayed for one more moment, she would've heard Blaze say, "Listen, Sonic... I'm sorry, but this... isn't really what I expected. I don't think this is going to work out."

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

Yeah, a bit of a cliffhanger, sorry. I know, I know, you all are_ heartbroken_ that Blaze just broke up with Sonic.

Well... I know at least_ one_ person is happy to see Silver in this story. ^_^ There will actually be some Silvaze in this story, along with the main, [eventual] SonAmy pairing. Hopefully I _don't_ have a bunch of people saying, "b-b-but that's not canon!" Psh, technically Sonic 06 never happened, so you could say Silver ended up in Blaze's dimension if you'd like to.

I didn't think Sonic would be a jerk to Silver... he might be suspicious at first, but I don't think he'd be a jerk, especially since he's one of Blaze's friends. By the way, yellow hyacinths mean "jealousy" and daffodils can mean "unrequited love." Appropriate, no?

And big surprise, Amy isn't giving up on Sonic. I had a lot of fun with the Vanilla talk... that's something we all want to tell Amy... but the girl just. won't. give. up. Though I do think it's sweet that she won't give up on him. =D

That's all for this chapter. There's a lot more coming. I hope you all are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it... :D


	5. His Own Medicine

ZehHyperactiveAuthor, SkulY2K, Mist Valley Apex Avian, TDSonic135, ItsStephanyx3, PastaxRocks, Welshausten, RagingSapphireStorm, Novus Umbra, Ksonic, Jacklethekitsune, Writer's Freedom, poka, CherrletheChicken, MyLoveForYou, SugarhogRose, 01sonamy01, Alyssacookie, OddSakura, Mana the Cat Magician, Colurful Star, sinister showdown, Mike Prower the Fox, IHeartSonAmy, Kurdave, AutoKnight01, Kettle-chip:

Thanks everyone! You all made my day(s)! =D This chapter should be..._ fun.._. I've been wanting to write this for a while...

Oh, and MAJOR thanks to Mana the Cat Magician for her help on this chapter! (You're amazing, girl!)

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Chapter 5: His Own Medicine

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

"Wait, what?"

His laughter suddenly dead, Sonic tilted his head in confusion, his green eyes trying to discern the almost-too-serious expression on Blaze's face. And yet, the cat had to be joking. _Had_ to be.

"Did you not hear me?" Blaze said, her lilac tail flicking back and forth. "I said... I don't think that this is working out, Sonic. I'm sorry. I know you seem to care for me... but I'm afraid that I don't return those feelings."

For three full seconds, which was a long time for the hedgehog, Sonic didn't move. But his mind was moving a million miles per hour, trying to think up dozens of different meanings for what Blaze had just said, grasping at straws, desperately trying not to think that she really did mean _that_. By the time his lower jaw had almost descended to his chest, a nervous laugh escaped.

"You're kidding, right?"

Getting annoyed, Blaze furrowed her brow at him and peeled his arm from around her shoulder. "No, Sonic. I'm not. I really don't think that I like you that way. You may have _told_ me about love and friendship, but I never _felt_ anything for you in return. I thought I did... but there's nothing in my heart for you."

Every single word that pelted Sonic's ears sunk his heart lower and lower. _No... _this... this couldn't be happening. Blaze... she _had_ to like _him_! He was _Sonic_, for crying out loud! The** hero**! The hero always got the girl, right? That was just... how it was _supposed _to be!

Yet Blaze's way-too-attractive face was set like flint, her arms firmly folded across her chest, letting Sonic know that she was dead, dead serious. That she really_ didn't_ have any feelings for him.

"Wait, wait, wait, _wait_. Hold _up_. Whaddya mean you don't like me? What is there not to like?" Sonic asked incredulously, not wanting to believe this was happening, his outer annoyance masking his growing inner panic and pain.

Blaze was_ this_ close to saying,_ 'would you like a list?'_, but held her tongue, and said, "I don't know any other way to say this, but... I don't wish to be your girlfriend any longer. I'm not ready for us to be in a relationship. We should go back to being friends."

Sonic's eyes were now huge in horror. "_Friends?_ But _why_? W-what I'd do wrong? Why'd you even...get my hopes up?" he stuttered, fighting off the very,_ very _unfamiliar sinking, rejected sensation in his chest. His heart was beating at an incredible pace, his breathing more labored. Everything felt so... _surreal._

Blaze blinked at him, wondering why Sonic looked so... stunned. He really hadn't seen this coming? Was he that blind and oblivious to her lack of feelings for him? What was it that had... enchanted and distracted him so? Sonic hadn't acted like this at all since they'd first met.

"I don't know if you did anything wrong, Sonic. I just don't have any romantic feelings for you. I'm sorry, " Blaze said, and, not sure what else to say, simply turned on her heel and started walking away from Sonic.

Sonic was left gaping at her retreating back, his mouth and face stuck in a shocked expression.

_Dude, she's getting away - you gotta go stop her!_

No, she was not going to ditch him!_ Nobody_ left Sonic the Hedgehog in the dust, especially not the girl of his dreams! In a desperate rush of air, Sonic sped around in front of Blaze, standing squarely in the cat's way to prevent her from leaving.

"_Blaze_, wait, _listen,_" he said, his voice laced with desperation. "You can't _do _this to me."

Sonic reached towards the cat to put his gloved hands on her shoulders, but to his dismay and rejection the cat took a step backwards, avoiding his contact.

"And why not?"

"But Blaze, I_ love_ you," he said quickly, desperate to confess his feelings. "Ya gotta understand that... you can't just leave me hangin' like this. I love you. You don't feel_ anything_ for me?"

He tried to reach out for her again, trying to touch her and hold her in his arms again, but she firmly pulled away, tearing at Sonic's breaking heart.

Green and gold eyes met, Blaze still firm, Sonic suddenly worked up to a frenzy. As he gaped at her, he felt his stomach fall down to his feet, and his heart cracking. This... he couldn't accept this. He couldn't... _lose_ like this. What he felt for Blaze was too strong, too passionate... how could she not return those feelings? Sonic had never before felt so... desperate, so helpless to do anything before. Never had he been so attached, and so needing of another person in his life.

"Your highness!"

A shout from the Captain of the Guard broke their stare. For the first time Blaze was actually relieved to see the koala, and didn't chastise him for calling her royalty.

"What is it Gardon?" Blaze asked as he approached, seamlessly switching topics and turning from an unusually distressed Sonic.

"Your highness, there's an urgent matter you must attend to. Please, come quickly."

Blaze let out another sigh of relief. Thank goodness she could get out of here! "Alright, Gardon, I'm coming." With that, she started following after the koala.

"_Wait!_ Blaze, _Blaze_ -" Sonic said, and once again ran in front of her to block her path. He wasn't going to_ let _her get away, and she couldn't out run him... "Listen, you can't just... I mean, that's it? Can't we... work this out?"

Blaze narrowed her eyes in irritation. "There's nothing more to discuss. I have more important things to worry about now, as I have a duty to my people, and I'm sure you have something else to do. Good day," and with a curt nod, she tried to step around the panicking hedgehog, but he continued to stand in her way.

Sonic wasn't about to give up. "Blaze, please, ya gotta understand, you mean _everything_ to me! Look, why don't we run away together, and we can be free, and you don't have to be worried about your princess duties! We can be free..." Sonic rambled, his eyes searching hers, looking to find some shred of..._ emotion_ in them.

But there was nothing.

"_Sonic._" Her patience shot, Blaze's voice was twinged with frostiness. "Since you don't seem to get what I'm trying to say, I'll come right out with it: I don't love you, and you don't own me. Now stand aside. We're finished."

_Ouch_... Sonic's heart felt like it was being ripped to shreds at that brutally honest comment. "But _Blaze..._" he groaned and once again reached for her, finally succeeding in getting one arm around her waist.

At his contact, Blaze immediately ignited a shield of fire around herself, one of the flames singing Sonic's arm, instantly causing the hedgehog to rip his arm away as he was burned.

"Ah!" Sonic yelled, and glanced at his arm in horror. It was now stinging with intense, throbbing pain... agony that was nothing compared to how his heart felt.

His head whipped back up to look at Blaze, but the lovely cat was now surrounded by a veil of fire, making her untouchable, unreachable, unattainable.

And then, without another word, Blaze the Cat simply walked away with Gardon to attend to more urgent matters of the kingdom, leaving an burnt, incredulous, brokenhearted Sonic to wonder what on earth had he done wrong.

_What just... did she just **leave** me? ... Was I just... dumped? _

He gingerly ran a gloved finger over the fresh burn that ran up his arm and winced.

_Me, **Sonic the Hedgehog**, dumped. And everything... was going so well... I loved her and... it felt so good when we kissed... how could she just be so... uncaring about it?_

His red shoe went back and forth against the ground, creating small trenches in the dirt. _  
_

_No. _

_I can't just stand here and brood about it. I can't let this bother me. I have to do something. Blaze is too valuable to simply slip through my fingers like that._

His head snapped back up, his lime green eyes suddenly ablaze with passionate fire.

_She really does love me... but she just doesn't get her feelings. I have to do something... I'm not giving up yet. I can't. It's not in my nature.  
_

And with that, Sonic bit his lip and took off to the other end of the island, desperately searching for a way to prove his love...

...xxx...

Letting out a long, drawn out, and perhaps overly dramatic sigh, Silver made his way into the guard room, his boots scuffing the dirty stone floor of the interior castle corridors. He knew that he should really keep his head up, especially since he was about to see one of the captains for his daily duty assignment, but Silver found he just couldn't raise his golden eyes up to look at anything but the filthy ground. Not since Blaze had said that she had a boyfriend.

Why was he taking the news so hard, though? What was it that had bothered him so much? When Sonic had pulled Blaze into his arms, and held her so close, and kissed her right in front of him... his stomach had twisted in disgusted nausea, and his heart had become suddenly sore. But why? Didn't he want Blaze to be happy? Was he just being naive again?

Everyone told him that he had to grow up and be a man now, stop being so childish and fantasizing. It had been drilled into his head from the first day of training. But still, if Silver was honest with himself, he'd admit that he'd been hoping that him and Blaze would eventually be together. In fact, she had been all he was thinking about for awhile now, consuming his thoughts and dreams. The whole time he'd come to know Blaze, Silver had always felt something for the cat. He'd been afraid to tell her, though, not only because she was a princess and he was merely a castle guard, but also because Blaze was very withdrawn. He'd wondered what she'd say if she knew he had any feelings for her.

But now... she had a boyfriend, making Silver lose hope that Blaze would ever choose him. Silver had been shocked to find out. He hadn't thought that Blaze had any friends besides himself. Why, the cat hadn't even mentioned that she knew Sonic until he randomly showed up as her boyfriend. Surely she hadn't known him that long or that well... and then they were just spontaneously dating? Did he really mean nothing to her, after all the battles they'd fought side by side in?

The wooden door to the guard room opened with a creak, and Silver slipped inside, his golden eyes darting over the the captain on duty: Amos, an elderly raccoon who really should be retired, but stayed on mostly to deal with the youngin's like himself, although he was by far the least strict of all the guards. Silver would've smiled if he could get the image of Blaze and Sonic kissing out of his head.

"Silver! Good to see you up and early this morning!" Amos greeted him warmly, as was his custom.

"Good morning, sir," Silver said and approached his superior.

A lighthearted grin overtook Amos' face, telling Silver this meeting wouldn't be all business. "So, you hear about the princess? Apparently Sonic's courting her now. Any of the other royal girls wouldn't be able to get away with that you know... only because Blaze is the Sol Emerald Guardian can she be courted by anyone she'd like."

Silver clenched his jaw, suddenly wishing Amos wasn't such a gossip. "So I've heard," he said, trying to be casual, and change the subject to one that didn't strike so many_ nerves._ "Now-"

Amos continued on, "I always thought_ you two_ had a thing... with how close you are. Especially since you're _of age_ now, aren't you? But I guess only a _hero_ would be enough to capture the princess's heart, eh?"

_"Hero_?" Silver echoed.

"Oh, don't tell me you don't know Sonic the Hedgehog. He was the one to help Princess Blaze stop the pirates and Eggman Nega and recover the Jeweled Scepter a while back. Apparently he's from another dimension."

Silver blinked. Oh, how could he be so_ stupid_? The name Sonic should've rang some bells, but... once Blaze had said they were together, everything had become hazy in his mind. Sonic... oh, right. _Duh_. The hero... the big shot. Was Blaze really attracted to him, and all the fame and attention that came with it? It seemed unlike her. Silver sighed. He knew he'd never be a big hero like that.

"Oh, yeah, I knew that," Silver said. "But anyway, Amos, uh, what is my duty today?"

"Right down to business as always, huh, Silver?" The hedgehog nodded, and Amos continued. "I see... well..." the elderly raccoon's wrinkle-framed eyes scanned the schedule. "You had night duty yesterday, yes?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, why don't you take the day off and take the same shift tonight, hmm?"

"Oh... uh, I'd be honored to take the day off, sir, but... you don't have any jobs for me?" he asked hopefully, knowing that he'd need something to keep his mind off of Blaze...

"No, Silver, I think you deserve a day off. Everything I've heard from Gardon concerning you has been golden - or should I say, silver?" he cackled at his own lame joke.

Silver forced a smile. "Yeah... thank you sir... I'll talk later, then."

"Yes, Silver. Enjoy your day off. After all, you're only the magical age of sixteen once!"

Silver turned away from the captain, swallowing another sudden wave of nausea as he went to roam around the castle, taking in the bustling life around him. Yeah.. he was sixteen. And everyone knew what that meant.

After he'd made one lap around the castle and was headed back to his quarters, he spied a certain lavender cat lingering at the edge of a courtyard, obviously on her way out.

What... what was Blaze doing back here? It wasn't often that Silver got to see her inside the castle during the day, and... wasn't she supposed to be with her boyfriend?

Using his psychokinesis because it was quicker, Silver zoomed over to Blaze, landing just behind her. "Blaze?"

The cat turned and smiled, relieved that it was _this _hedgehog. "Hello Silver."

"Hey," he tilted his head. "Why are you here? I thought you and Sonic-"

Blaze shook her head, dismissing the topic. "We're no longer a couple," she said simply, and saw no reason to elaborate.

"Really?" Silver blurted out. "You mean you... broke up with him?"

"Yes. I don't know why I agreed to go with him in the first place. I never had any feelings for Sonic. I was just confused. But I believe that I've figured it out now."

Wait... so Blaze didn't even like Sonic, at all? She had just been confused? A wave of relief washed over Silver. This was the best news he'd heard all day.

"That was quick. So, you never liked him?" he asked somewhat hopefully, a small smile stretching across his muzzle.

"No, I don't think I did. He was one of my first friends, and he showed me why I shouldn't be so withdrawn... but there was never any romantic attraction with him. Although..." she frowned. "He did take it pretty hard. Sonic seems to care for me quite a bit, Silver. I have faith that he'll recover, however. Sonic's always been cool headed. I respect him."

For some reason, Blaze's mini speech left Silver elated, or at the very least, relieved. "That's... that's good Blaze. I'm glad that you don't, er, that you've figured it out. But anyway, what are you doing back at the castle?"

"Gardon had some papers for me to sign, dealing with the new stronghold for the Jeweled Scepter. I-"

The rest of her sentence was cut off by a sonic boom echoing off the surrounding castle walls. Neither had enough time to cringe, as the noise's famous creator suddenly appeared.

Sonic stood with one had behind his back, and the other reaching towards Blaze, who stepped backwards.

"Sonic? What are you-"

"Listen, Blaze..." Sonic's voice shook a little with emotion. "I'm sorry for anything that I did. But I'm here because... I tried to run but... I just _can't stop_ thinking about you. And I'm willing to do anything, absolutely _anything _to make_ us_ work. I'm hear to say, I haven't given up... and I still love you."

He reached behind his back to present a dozen freshly-picked, deep-red roses, held in gloves that were sprinkled with blood from the thorns. Blaze studied the flowers, then Sonic's eyes that were pleading for acceptance, for reciprocation, but Blaze turned her nose up. It wasn't that she wanted to be mean... but that she simply didn't care for him.

"Sonic, I've already told you no. How many times do I have to say it? I don't want to be your girlfriend." She turned her back on the cobalt hedgehog, who's heart was breaking more and more by the second.

"But Blaze, you just, just don't understand, I love you so much- what more do I have to do?" he pleaded, hating to sound so weak and needy and desperate... but his heart was aching for the girl. "I'll do anything for you-"

"Nothing, Sonic. What is it _you_ don't understand? I've already said I don't love you. Now leave me in peace," she said, her back still turned.

Sonic's hand gripped the roses tighter, feeling the thorns prick him, but still offered them to the cat. "Blaze, please, hear me out-"

"Hey, _pal." _

The only one in the area who hadn't spoken made his voice heard. "If she says she doesn't love you, why don't you just leave her alone and move on? Your begging isn't going to do anything."

Sonic turned to Silver and sneered at him, not feeling like himself at all. "Oh, what do _you _know?"

Trying to maintain a level head, Silver looked right back at Sonic, the world renowned hero. He was shaking in his boots a little, since Sonic was, well, _Sonic_, and Silver really wasn't anybody special... but when someone was bothering Blaze... he'd stand up for her no matter what.

"I know that Blaze doesn't love you, and that you're being a possessive ex-boyfriend. Now leave her alone and get lost."

Sonic's upper lip was still curled up in annoyance at the other hedgehog. "I'm not being - oh, jeez, and who are you, her _new_ boyfriend, _pretty boy_?"

"_Sonic_." He froze at her voice. Normally is was so musical, so lovely, but now it was twinged with ice, a coldness that sucked all the life out of Sonic, freezing his heart, contrasting with the stinging burn that still carved into his arm.

"Silver is right."_ Ouch_. "I don't love you." _But why not?_ "You need to move on." _I can't_! "Now please leave. I would rather _not _call the guards on you or fight you myself."

Sonic's eyes were huge. "But I don't wanna_ fight _you-!"

"Then leave, Sonic," Blaze finally faced him again, creating a shield of fire around her body.

"But how can you just - don't you _care about me_?"

An unexpected sob escaped Sonic, and suddenly he was shocked at himself. Never had he felt so clingy, so needing of anything besides the open air before in his life. And never, ever had he felt this horrible, as he studied the unattainable, attractive Blaze hiding behind an impenetrable cloak of fire. His heart had become like melted wax in his chest, and it hurt to even breathe.

Yes, Eggman had crushed and bruised his body before, but this... this _rejection_ of the girl he had fallen so hard and fast for... it was unbearable.

Sonic was always one to go all out and give everything he had, live life to the fullest; he hadn't given Blaze only half of his heart, he'd fallen completely in love with her... and he'd felt so much, given her so much of himself... and gotten nothing in return.

Blaze really, really didn't love him.

Pressure built up behind his eyelids, and Sonic finally dropped the roses and turned to speed off and out of the castle, letting the unfamiliar tears brush away in the passing wind.

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

Ah... now Sonic _finally_ knows how it feels to be rejected. I tried not to go overboard and make him a complete stalker, but I don't think Sonic would give up the first time. But still, Blaze refuses him. And another reason why I picked Blaze is because she doesn't beat around the bush - she's brutally honest sometimes.

I'm sorry about the use of a very unoriginal OC, but I wanted to develop and write how Silver felt for a bit and I wanted to have him talking to someone. What... did you think it'd be_ Amy_? That'd be too predictable and too much of a coincidence, now wouldn't it? There will be no SilvAmy in this story. Besides, the girl's too heartbroken right now...

By the way, I know we didn't check in with our main pink heroine (that word_ does_ have an 'e') this time, but you'll find out what she's been up to next chapter.

Oh, and... I've decided to drop the T-rating, so you all can breathe easy now. I just realized "that part" was unnecessary and would've dug me into a much deeper hole than I'm already in. ^^'

Thanks for reading, next chapter soon!


	6. Elusive Dreams

Samantha27, Mana the Cat Magician, Kurdave, AutoKnight01, Ksonic, poka, Novus Umbra, JazzTheHedgehogSingingStar, Writer's Freedom, 01sonamy01, SugarhogRose, CherrletheChicken, IHeartSonAmy, Alyssacookie, OddSakura, ColurfulStar, enustikehtelkcaJ, Mike Prower the Fox, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, ItsStephanyx3, PastaxRocks, MyLoveForYou, SherryBlossom:

Thanks everyone! Glad I wasn't the only one who "enjoyed" breaking Sonic's heart... Half of me wanted to hug him, the other half was like, "_feel Amy's pain_!" Jeez, I torture Sonic way too much... Ah well, I do it for his own good. ^_^

Enjoy this chapter...

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

Chapter 6: Elusive Dreams

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

The rough bark of a palm tree cut into Amy's back, but the girl was too deep in thought to consider moving to relieve her pain. She was leaning against the tree, her knees bent in front of her, curved to form a sort of desk to cradle her diary.

Amy's gloved hands flipped through the scribble-covered pages, green eyes scanning and rereading over what she'd written over the past day or so, ever since she'd found out that Sonic's heart belonged to another girl. Some of the pages were wrinkled, as they'd dried unevenly after being moistened with tears... others were full of bad attempts at sad poetry... still others were just mindless doodles of broken hearts and hammers.

Amy hadn't planned on becoming a writer, let alone a poet, but it was Vanilla who had encouraged her to write down her thoughts during this dark hour. _A healthy outlet_, the mother had told her._ A good way to work out what it is you're feeling. _

Besides, she should have known that all romantics at heart eventually picked up a pen._  
_

She read back over an older poem and sighed:_  
_

_I don't think it's a joke  
The way I start to choke__  
When I see you_

_My breaths come out in gasps_  
_And my heart beats fast_  
_When I see you_

_I feel all tingly inside_  
_And I know I can't deny it_  
_When I see you_

_All I do is get ignored_  
_But my heart has always soared_  
_When I see you_

_The more I try and try_  
_The more I get pushed aside_  
_When I see you_

_All you do is avoid_  
_But I guess I love you boy_  
_When I see you_

Her black pen, which Amy had been previously spinning around on her fingers, slipped from her grasp and fell into the sand below her, but Amy didn't bother to pick it up.

She had nothing more to write.

_All I do is see him, I can barely catch a glimpse of him... and then he runs away._

Amy dropped her knees to stretch out her long, pink legs, groaning as she slid forward a little._ Ugh, I'm so fat_.

For a moment her eyes left her diary pages to watch the ocean waves crash on the shore, only to recede back into the sea to make another wave. Sometimes the waves grew, other times it was only a shadow of the previous one. But each time, no matter what... it came back. It continued the chase, endlessly.

_Oh, why does it matter? _Amy thought bitterly, biting into her lip and looking down at her boots. _Why does anything matter? I should be enjoying this... I should but... S**onic...**_

O_H, why do I think about him so much? It's not fair... why does he have my heart in such a vice? Why does he have to hold me captive, and invade my dreams and life? And why does he have to love Blaze? He never even gave me a chance..._

_I've been through this a million times... and a million times I get no answer. A million times I'm left to wonder.  
_

_He looked so happy with her... I should be happy for him, but... I still want him, for myself. I just want to hold him, and kiss him... I want him so badly... but, Ms. Vanilla's right. I have to be happy for him. If he's happy, then... I guess I'll have to be too._

_Even though the thought of him being with her is tearing me apart._

She readjusted her posture again, this time crossing her legs, letting her diary fall to her left as her hands reached behind her body to support herself, digging into the warm, grainy sand.

_Shouldn't you just move on?  
_

_I should, I know... _

A breeze drifted by, ruffling Amy's quills, and she frowned.

_But I can't... stop... loving him. My heart is not my own. I made up my mind a long time ago, that no matter what, I'd wait for him. I made my choice a long time ago... even though, he's not mine...  
_

_But is he really worth all this pain? Is he? Isn't he just a selfish jerk-_

_No! He's not... he's all I've ever dreamed of... I've never met anyone like him before. He's heart-achingly good-looking, kind, independent, honest, a hero, selfless, confident, brave, fearless... _

_But why... does he care about everyone except for me? Why is he such a jerk to me? Why can't I have him?_

_Why does he give his heart to the first new girl that he meets? And why do I continue chasing him?_

Feeling a flash of inspiration, Amy scrambled for her pen and opened her diary to a blank page, scrawling down:

_Why do I want_

_what I can't have?_

_Why hurt myself _

_in the fruitless chase?_

_Because  
_

_There's the hope  
_

_that in the end_

_it will be worth it_

_I wouldn't run  
_

_if he wasn't _

_worth pursuing_

_if I catch him  
_

_he will make the_

_heartache  
_

_**worthwhile...**  
_

Soft footsteps in the sand made Amy look up_, _and she forced a smile. She was about to offer a greeting to the approaching rabbit and raccoon, but Marine beat her to it.

"Strewth, sheila! Yer sittin' out 'ere by yourself!"

Amy's smile went crooked, and she slipped her diary under her legs to hide it. "Yeah, I guess I am..." _By myself, without Sonic..._

"We brought you some ice cream," Cream said as she approached, and offered a spare chocolate cone to Amy.

The pink hedgehog extended her arm half-heartedly, accepting the sugar cone despite the ice cream dripping off the side.

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese suddenly said, and Cream looked to her small friend and smiled.

"Oh, you're right Cheese." The rabbit took the chain of blossoms from the chao. "And a flower crown!" Cream said, a little too happily, and coronated Amy's head with the homemade tiara.

"Thanks Cream," Amy muttered, knowing Cream was just trying to make her feel better, but couldn't help but wish it was Sonic giving her flowers.

But no, he was picking the local flora for his girlfriend,_ that ugly witch..._

_No, Amy... you can't hate Blaze. If Sonic loves her... _

Marine frowned. "Oi, mate, you shouldn't be wastin' time sobbin'. How about a little go on my ship, eh? I fixed it up-"

"No thanks," Amy declined, not feeling up to it.

"Amy... you can't sit around sad all day..."Cream said.

"I know but... No matter what,_ Sonic's_ on my mind..." Amy clutched her ice cream tighter in her hand, the cone threatening to pop and spill chocolate all over her dress.

_That'd be just my luck._

"But Amy, just sitting around here won't help," Cream tried to reason with her. _  
_

Amy glanced back at the ocean and the monotonous, endless rhythm of the waves. _Cream's right. Maybe a walk will do you good..._

Trying not to groan, Amy lifted herself to stretch her limbs that were sore from sitting before tucking her diary under her arm. For the next half hour or so, she followed the two younger girls around the island, halfway envying how carefree that they were, and wishing that she could be eight years old again.

Oh, when she was eight. For a second, Amy couldn't help but smile, but it quickly disappeared. She remembered that day, five years ago, when she'd first met Sonic, like it'd just happened. When she was eight, Amy had run away from home, led by her Tarot Cards, hoping for a chance to be with the famous blue hedgehog. Of course, she'd only become Metal Sonic bait, but... not for long. For just as soon as she was kidnapped... Sonic had coming rushing to save her. Yes, he'd saved her.

Ever since that day he'd first held her in his strong arms, cradled her close to his body, carried her at impossible speeds away from the breaking Little Planet...

Amy had never been the same.

She still craved to be held by him. They'd had their ups and downs as friends... though mostly downs, but still, Amy had never, ever stopped dreaming and hoping that one day, he'd choose her. One day, he'd hold her and kiss her and say he'd just wanted to protect her and they'd get married...

Yes... that one day had never come.

_Five years, Amy. Five... and now Sonic's moved on... he never loved you... he loves another girl now..._

_It's time to let go...  
_

_But I can't! I don't want to! I already made up my mind! Even if he's moved on, I can't... I still love him. My feelings for him haven't gone away! If he loves Blaze then...I'll just have to... be sad. _

A little while later, Amy found herself back in Marine's house, absentmindedly playing with her food. The day had gone by so quickly, swallowed up in lonely, selfish, solemn thoughts. She was the quiet one at the table, half listening to Marine chatter on and on, ignoring Cream's sad looks and Vanilla's sympathetic ones, when a familiar gush of air caused everyone to look up from the table.

Only a few feet away from Amy, in the threshold of the door, stood Sonic himself. His body was shaking, like he was gasping for air. What? Had his run taken that much out of him? And where was his _girlfriend_?

For a moment, Amy was afraid to move or say anything, and she just studied his face. He was biting his lip, and the redness in his eyes made him look like he'd been - what? _Crying? _

He glanced away, and Tails gasped and stood up, shocked at his brother's appearance.

"Sonic, what happened?" Tails asked.

The hedgehog shook his head, and said with no small amount of pain, "Blaze... she... we're not...together..."

Now everyone gasped at this news, and exchanged shocked glances.

All except for Amy, who remained frozen in her seat, her mind racing.

_Oh my gosh, they're not together? They broke up? Sonic is free again? He doesn't love her? I have a chance again?_ YES!

Amy was about to let out an excited squeal, but when she looked back at Sonic, his visible, obvious misery sucked the excitement right out of her as her heart went out to him.

_Oh, but, Sonic... he looks so... how can I be happy if he's hurting so much?_

Biting her lip as she studied his heartbroken expression, her own heart hurting, Amy softly spoke up, "Sonic-"

"Amy, I'm _not _in the mood right now," Sonic said, softly, sadly, and started heading for his room.

"But wait, I just want to-"

"For _once_ in your life will you leave me_ alone_?" A frustrated Sonic snarled, causing Amy's heart to break, yet again, from being rejected.

And then her temper erupted. "Fine! I_ won't_ help you!"

She fiercely glared at him, but looking deeply into his eyes, her anger dissipated at seeing how much he truly was hurting. It was masked well, but Amy knew hurt when she saw it.

For a second, the two heartbroken hedgehogs_ stared_ at each other, transferring the mutual pain of rejection and annoyance, like looking in a mirror. For one second, they both felt..._ understood_. And for that second, Sonic felt even worse for yelling at her so harshly, but then he simply sped off, slamming the door behind him, not wanting to deal with her right now. Or ever.

_Sonic, I'm sorry... _Amy thought, staring at the door he'd just run into. She was waging an internal war. _Oh, why did I have to snap at him? _

"Oh man..." Tails said, and looked back down at his plate before excusing himself from the table. "This isn't going to turn out well..." _  
_

...xxx... A little while later ...xxx...

"... and then she just turned and walked away. Like I meant _nothing_ to her, Tails." Sonic closed his green eyes in heartbroken pain. "Nothing."

The fox bit his lip, drawing upon his inexhaustible supply of patience to try and hear the hedgehog out. He had never seen his older brother in such _a _brooding state before, lying on his back, his hands hidden somewhere in his mess of quills, his lips pulled down into a frown. A deep, dark red burn ran up his inner arm, serving as a visible reminder of the breakup.

_Yeah, some vacation this turned out to be, huh?_

Tails had been hoping that coming back to this dimension, bringing along Amy, Cream, and her mom, he'd be able to gather some of the amazing new materials that were present only in this world, and figure out a way to bring them back with him - but instead he'd spent the past day and a half nursing the broken hearts of two different hedgehogs.

While Amy had mostly locked herself up to cry and write, Sonic had done the opposite: he'd gone stir crazy, running desperate laps around the tiny island they were on, refusing to ride on any watercraft to go to any other island, but still cursing that there was no big open land to run his heart out.

Ah, Sonic's heart... his heart was now broken. Badly. Tails had only seen Sonic shed tears a few times, and this was one of them, telling by the red rimmed eyes that he refused to look at anyone with... lifeless jade eyes that were now staring up at the ceiling. No, Sonic was not taking this rejection very well at all.

"I just... don't know what's wrong with me, man," Sonic continued, his voice soft and without even a hint of attitude. "I don't feel like... myself. I don't usually sit around and think, I just let things blow past me... but it's... different this time, Tails. I gave Blaze my heart... I've just... never been so attached, so attracted, so_ caught up_ in anything before. It just_ hurts_ to give someone everything and get nothing back, ya know?"

Where have I heard that before? Tails thought sarcastically. Of course, he had been quick to pick up on the irony and parallelism of both Sonic and Amy's situations. They were both going through major heartbreak.

"I mean, how can she be so... heartless? Why doesn't she like me? What did I do wrong? I just don't get girls..." he trailed off and then turned back to the fox, facing him head on, though he was still lying down. "Tails, you listen yer big bro. Don't ever get involved with girls. They steal your heart, get your hopes up, and then leave ya hangin'. It's not worth it, buddy."

"So you're swearing off girls?" Tails asked, a little amused.

"Yep," he said. "Dating's just not for me. I've always been independent, and I'm going back to that. I just... need to get Blaze outta my head."

Tails allowed a small smile to creep up his muzzle. He knew Sonic; in a week or so, this would all be forgotten, and Sonic would be back to being the guy they all knew and loved. Surely. He'd get over this and move on, just like he always did. But in the meantime, he needed someone to understand him.

"Hey, have you talked with Amy yet?" Tails asked, tilting his head slightly.

As bad as Sonic was feeling, thoughts of the pink hedgehog just made him feel even worse. He groaned and readjusted his frame, only to wince as one of his sharp quills cut into the nasty burn. "Well gee, you_ really_ know how to cheer a guy up."

"Well, maybe I can't, but Amy knows exactly how you're feeling, you know..."

"Tails, I'm_ not_ talking with her. Forget it."_ It's not even up for debate_, Sonic thought.

"But Sonic, you_ promised_!" Tails protested. He knew very well that the only thing to make both hedgehogs feel better would be each other.

Sonic shook his head, and continued quietly, "That was when me and Blaze were together. I'm off the hook now."

Disappointment flooded Tails' body. It was fair enough, but still... Amy was maybe the only one of their friends who could help Sonic out, and yet the hedgehog refused to talk to her.

"Your loss, Sonic," he muttered, sure that the older hedgehog could hear him, though he made no sign that he had. "Well, either way... don't you think we should be getting back home soon?" Tails ventured. "I mean, we've been here for about half a week now..."

"Nah... I'm sure Knux can handle Eggy for a few days without us," Sonic said flippantly, not quite wanting to leave yet, though part of him knew that might be for the best.

Silence passed between the brothers as a renegade breeze upset some nearby wind chimes, creating a high pitched jingle.

"So what are you going to do now?" Tails asked, tilting his head a little.

In a quick movement, Sonic sat back upright, his elbows resting on his knees which were danging off the windowsill he was sitting in, his chin cupped in his hands. "I dunno. I don't... I can't give up. I _just can't stop_ thinking about Blaze..." he sighed, and tried shaking his head to clear it, but when it came to rest, all he saw was Blaze, and her attractive face, her athletic figure...

He jumped down from the window sill, his shoes absorbing the shock. "I'm gonna go on another run, Tails... see if that'll help. It always has before." A forced but obviously crooked smile twisted his lips.

"Alright, then. I still think that you should talk to-"

Not wanting to hear the end of that sentence, Sonic took off at half his average running speed, his heart just not into it. It didn't help that there wasn't all that much room to run here, anyway, because of the cursed water surrounding the island. But still... he was tired of moping around and he needed to move. It didn't suit him to brood. He wasn't built to think and worry about his problems. He wasn't Shadow.

But still, there was something about Blaze that wouldn't leave him alone. Something that had taken his heart captive. He knew that she didn't love him... but what did that matter? Still, Sonic felt his heart aching for Blaze, wanting to hold and kiss her again. Even though she wouldn't have him.

_Oh gee, I pressured her too much, didn't I? Ah... I just couldn't help myself. I fell for her really hard...those feelings were so powerful. I never knew this mushy stuff would be so strong. I've never felt so captive by how I felt before..._

A voice coming from behind a nearby bush hit his ears, and had Sonic been running any faster, the wind would've drowned it out, but as it was, he heard it clearly. His shoes scuffled across the ground, kicking up dust in the process of slowing down. Finally, Sonic came to a complete halt, his ears swiveled in the direction of the voice he loved much too much. _  
_

"Yes. I'm just glad that it's over now."

It was her. _Blaze._

"You know, I find that pretty amazing."

And _with_ her?_ Silver. _

"What's that?"

Oh, all of the symphonies in the world couldn't compare to that voice... yet she was talking to another guy.

"That you dumped Sonic like that."

Sonic inhaled a painful breath. _Walk away, walk away, walk away, don't torture yourself,_ he thought. _Really, what will eavesdropping get you but more heartache?_ Yet his feet were firmly planted into the ground, his ears stuck in the direction of the pair, not able to pull himself from them.

"Why is that?"

"Well... you know who he is. He's a hero. _The_ hero. You know any girl would've killed to be in your shoes, right? I mean, to be Sonic's girl. You should've heard all the gossip today. They were saying, 'only Princess Blaze would reject and refuse Sonic the Hedgehog'," Silver smiled a little.

_But I don't want those other girls! ... I want you, Blaze... the one girl I can't have... is the one I want._

_Figures._

"I don't care what anyone says, Silver. I just don't like Sonic. And that's that."

"I know you don't care what others say, Blaze... and that's... incredible. You really are an amazing girl."

_Yes... yes you are, Blaze_, Sonic thought sadly. _But you just won't be mine. Why not? What did I do wrong?  
_

On the other side of the bush from the distressed hedgehog, Blaze turned back to her silver companion and was momentarily startled as her heart jumped in her chest as her eyes traced his tender expression. Her heart was now pumping quickly, and her breath caught in her throat. What... could that be... was that what love felt like? Every single gesture that Silver made, looking down at his boots and biting his lip, clenching and unclenching his fists... everything he did made Blaze's heart flutter more and more. Sonic had never made her feel like this._ No one_ had ever made her _feel _like this.

What was she feeling? Blaze hadn't the slightest clue.

But she liked it.

Feeling the cat's eyes on him, warmth crawled up Silver's muzzle. Why was she staring at him? Could she be..._ Yeah right, Silv. You know she doesn't. If she rejected** Sonic**, there's no way she's gonna like** you**. She's just thinking is all._

Blaze _was_ thinking. _Should I tell him about what I feel? No... I shouldn't. I've already practically ruined Sonic and I's friendship over these irrational feelings. I don't want to ruin my friendship with Silver, too. I shouldn't rush into anything._

She cleared her throat. "Silver, I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me back there. It wasn't necessary, but I appreciated it nevertheless."

"Oh, that wasn't a problem. I didn't want him to keep bothering you. I just... I don't like to see you in trouble."

Blaze found herself smiling. "Thanks again. I've... I've never had a friend like you before. Sonic may have told me about relationships, but you... you let me experience_ feelings_ for myself. I... " Blaze froze, almost scared of how much of her heart she'd just bared. Her shyness surfacing along with an accompanying blush, Blaze looked away from Silver.

Had she said too much? What would he say to that?

Just when she was about to stand, or change the subject, she felt a strong hand placed gently on top of hers, causing a shock to run down her spine.

"Blaze... we don't have to rush into anything together...I want to be your friend still..." Silver trailed off, and then looked deeply into her golden eyes. "But... when you're ready to, and if you want to be more... then... I'll be here for you."

Sonic clenched his jaw, almost fuming. _Yeah, yeah, yeah, talk real smooth, pretty boy. You just wanna-_

He shot the terrible thought from his brain and took off again, not wanting to hear anymore, not wanting to _think_ any more.

Now, more than ever, Sonic felt like he'd lost. And now he _knew_ that he'd have to get over Blaze, for she was now more or less taken. And he was not a girlfriend-snatching type of guy.

_But Silver, really? Blaze likes him? What's so good about Silver? He's not even as cool as I am... what has he got that I don't?_

_It's over, man. Ya gotta get over Blaze. She's just not the girl for you. You're overreacting, big time. Get over it._ His rational side screamed.

_I know, okay? You think I don't know that?_ _I can't seem to just turn these feelings off. I really, really wish I could outrun them, like I do everything else...  
_

_Oh, what is wrong with me? I don't do this brooding stuff... I'm starting to act like Shadow. _

_Or Amy..._

Turning on a dime, Sonic zipped back to Marine's house and burst through the door, ignoring Cream, Amy, Marine, and Vanilla, who were gathered in the main room, and zipped right up to Tails.

"Tails, get the portal ready. We're going back home."

The fox looked up at Sonic's frazzled expression. "Now?"

"Yeah," was all Sonic said, but he was thinking,_ I'm done here_. "Now."

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

Gah, this chapter was too long! I got long winded... but I wanted to really drive home how Sonic and Amy are feeling before we get to next chapter, the really good parts.

Also, I'm a sucker for Sonic and Tails brotherly and wanted to write more of it (How can you not like it?) I also wanted to leave Silver and Blaze off on a happy note. =)

The whole Amy part... I wanted her to remain faithful to Sonic, and for her to make a decision to keep on loving him no matter what. That's the only way this story would work. I didn't want to go down the "Screw you Sonic! OMG Shadow!" route so many people have worn down. Though for the record, I do think there are some good stories like that... but I don't plan on adding to the pile. ^^ (Sorry if you like Shadamy...)

And in case you're wondering, I did write that poem... 5 years ago. So it_ is_ something a 13 year old would write. ^_^ The second one, with free verse, I wrote today. ^_^ I used to write poetry all the time, but I've found I like prose better. I hope you guys liked my poetry!

Either way... Ch. 7 will a lot of fun, I promise you that much... ^_^ So thank you, thank you, _thank you_ for putting up with these first six chapters... Things can only improve for both hedgehogs now!


	7. Empathy Epiphany

Mana the Cat Magician,PastaxRocks, AutoKnight01,Mist Valley Apex Avian,Constanza Rose, xEmberChanx, rugtugba, JazzTheHedgehogSingingStar, Writer's Freedom, SkulY2K, 01sonamy01, IHeartSonAmy, CherrletheChicken, Sonic Speed Blue Blur 23, Alyssacookie, OddSakura, MyLoveForYou, SherryBlossom, Mike Prower the Fox, Colurful Star, Kurdave, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, enustikehtelkcaJ:

Not much to say, but thanks for hanging in there, guys and gals! This chapter is really dark and serious at first, but bear with me. You are about to be rewarded!

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Chapter 7: Empathy Epiphany

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

A change of scenery really, really should've helped.

Coming back home, exploring old haunts, running his heart out, leaving the dimension where everything reminded Sonic of her... it all should've added up to Sonic being Sonic again. You know: the fun-loving, wise-cracking, easy-going, butt-kicking heroic hedgehog.

That's really, really what should've happened.

His red-sneakered feet carried Sonic throughout the planet, making the hedgehog into a blue blur and the passing objects lost their distinctness. But the more blurry his surroundings became, the more vivid the image of Blaze in his head grew. And the faster his feet pumped, the quicker his broken heart thumped, slamming more and more pain into his rib cage. The only thing Blaze had given him, a deep burn, still carved into his arm, stinging with a pain that couldn't seem to mend, and no matter how fast of a healer that Sonic normally was... he couldn't shake this.

It had shaken him.

He still couldn't get Blaze off of his mind.

Still.

No matter what.

"Argh, why can't I forget her?" Sonic yelled, his agonized voice swallowed up in the passing wind. "Why do I have to be captive to one girl? Why... what did I do wrong? I should be over her by now!"

He tried to speed up, hoping that zooming around would help... but no matter how fast Sonic ran, he couldn't outrun his heart, that was still bleeding in pain, longing for a girl he couldn't have, and didn't want him like he wanted her...

_No. I can't keep going like this... I'll end up nuts... _He thought desperately._  
_

_But what can I do?_

_I tried my normal cure-all, running... but that's gotten me nowhere, ironically._

Sonic slowed to a jog of only 30 or so mph, strolling around the back streets of Station Square, his normally brilliant green eyes trained to the dirty ground that was dimly illuminated by the last few rays of twilight.

_I just... don't feel up to anything. I don't feel like I can take on the world like I usually can. I don't feel like... myself._

_... and everyone's been treating me different. Knuckles told me I'm being an idiot, Shadow used more colorful language... and the world that I save every other day? No one wants to hear about a brokenhearted hero. They don't want to think that it's possible... they don't want to see me, Sonic, as anything less than perfect. They don't want to see their hero break down, show his mortality. I'm an idol for those people...  
_

_And I bought all that, didn't I? I didn't want to view myself as someone with any weaknesses either... as someone who could break and cry and bleed and be rejected. I didn't think that it was possible for me to be so... heartbroken, the way I am now. I didn't think my heart could be so weak when it came to girls... I never knew this love stuff could be so powerful... and that it would take everything out of me.  
_

_Huh, free love... whoever said that love is free seriously's never been in it... love takes everything from ya, man... your heart, your mind, your sanity, your thoughts, your sleep... Yeah,** free love**... what a freakin' joke..._

He let the thoughts drift away, leaving him with just another image of Blaze... and the way he had kissed her, and yet she hadn't returned any of that affection... He sighed.

_Nobody understands. Nobody loves me... just for who I am... when I'm not being their perfect, dashing, hero. When I am weak and broken and raw like this.  
_

_Sure, I have Tails, but... he's too young right now. He doesn't want to see me break down, either... I'm supposed to be the perfect big brother to him. He doesn't know what it's like. I need... something that he can't give me... I need...  
_

Dare he say it?

_A girl._

Sonic stopped on a dime and his eyes fell on the elevated sign advertising for the nearby Club Rouge. Since it was barely evening, the club wasn't open yet, but the sign was already on, beckoning weary travelers like himself to come have a good time. He was only sixteen, sure, but Rouge would sneak him in ... For one full minute Sonic let his imagination run wild as he looked into the windows, his mind conjuring up everything he could get in there... all the sweet, one-time but intense pleasures that could perhaps cure the ache...

He turned abruptly from the club and continued walking.

No... that wouldn't do him any good... and he knew it. What he wanted and needed, right now, was not some tramp, but nothing other than Blaze herself. Oh, but he couldn't have her. She was just unattainable to him.

Sonic clenched his jaw, frustrated with himself.

_Why am I moping around like this? Why can't I enjoy life like I always have? This is really getting old. But... what can I do but wait? _

Still, his sneakers continued to carry Sonic through the busy downtown streets, avoiding the stares of passing people, continuing to watch the ground as if it held the mysteries of love and life.

His stomach suddenly growled, reminding Sonic that he required food, although he really wasn't hungry. All he felt in his chest was pain and a dull ache. But still... what else could he do tonight? He hadn't eaten since Blaze dumped him... was that really only yesterday?

It didn't matter.

The bell of the restaurant chimed as Sonic walked in and up to the register to order. His dull olive-colored eyes scanned the menu, but none of the choices had him salivating.

"Hi, welcome to The Gazebo, how can I help you?" The cashier, a magenta mouse, asked in a way-too-peppy voice.

For a moment Sonic just stared at her dully, and the girl's smile faded about a centimeter."Sir?"

He sighed and looked back at the menu. Right in the middle was an oversized picture of a plate full of chili dogs. Sonic gaped at it, but his mouth was still strangely dry.

"Uh, I'll take... the chicken sandwich," he said softly. "A large order of fries... and a drink."

The mouse punched the order in. "For here or to go?"

Sonic bit his lip and then glanced behind him. Where else could he go at this point? "Here."

"Alright, sir, that'll be $8.67..."

_What a rip off when I'm not even hungry... T_he blue hedgehog dug into his back quills and produced a straggly ten and handed it to her, and almost left the change behind to go and wait on his food. It really didn't take all that long for his meal to come up; it was one thing he'd always loved about The Gazebo. Fast service. Yet, on this evening, he couldn't even appreciate it.

Finally, his modest dinner came across the table and Sonic forced a crooked smile at the server in thanks before gripping his tray and turning to look for a place to sit and eat his cardboard, sawdust food. His jade-green eyes scanned the tables, when his heart suddenly stopped and panic shoved out the previous numbness.

_Amy. _

She was here, alone, sitting with her back to him in one of the corner booths, staring out the window at the tangerine sunset.

_Oh CRAP run, run, run before she SEES you! _His instincts screamed, but his feet disobeyed and remained planted. Sonic gaped like a goldfish at the back of her head, tracing her triangular ears before rushing off to the extreme other side of the restaurant, leaving a mini sonic boom in his wake.

Hearing the familiar sound, Amy's head snapped up, spinning around behind her, searching the direction from whence it came._ Could it be... he's here?_ She thought with no small amount of hope. Sure enough, seated on the other side of the restaurant, was Sonic the Hedgehog himself. Alone.

Amy couldn't help but stare at him, but her heart was torn. She still felt awful for snapping at him yesterday, still felt bad that Blaze broke his heart... but there was part of her heart that harbored a smoldering of feelings for the hedgehog. Her eyes traced the quills on the back of his head, which was obviously turned from her. Even from this distance Amy could see that he was shaking, as if his breathing was labored and heavy. _Oh, he's still hurting?_ Amy gnawed at her lip. _Should I go over to him? Oh, I want to help, but... won't he just run from me again?_

As Amy was debating with herself, oh so slowly, Sonic turned his head in her direction, and for a split second, two eerily similar shades of green met.

Sonic whipped his head back around, suddenly breathing hard again. So she _had_ been looking at him - practically staring! _Oh dang it dang it dang it dang it.. why am I so worked up again? Oh jeez, Amy please don't come over here. Stay in your nice little booth, by yourself, and give a guy a break for once. Please don't come over here, please, I'm not here, you didn't **see** me... _

Footsteps. Loud and clumsy, like they were created by boots.

_Ah crap. She's gonna smother me in a hug, and say, 'Yay, Blaze dumped you, now we can get married!' Doesn't she know that I-_

"Umm... Sonic?"

He froze at her voice. It was so gentle, so caring... so lovely, so twinged with worry... that something moved in his heart. But even though Amy was now standing right in front of him, he didn't have the guts to look her in the eyes, and kept his gaze trained to the table.

"Sonic... are you okay?"

He didn't answer. He didn't move.

Amy bit her lip, the tray that she was holding was shaking from gripping it too hard. She traced his sullen expression, it tearing at her heart to see him look so downcast. It didn't suit him. It just wasn't Sonic-like.

"Look, Sonic, I'm sorry that I snapped at you yesterday... b-but I really do want to help you... I care about you... and... I don't want to see you hurting like this. Please... I want to help you. Can I... sit?"

What...? She was_ asking _now? While most of Sonic dreaded her presence, part of him oddly wanted her here. Especially since she wasn't in her fangirlish daze... she honestly seemed to_ care_ about _him_ right then. Again, something moved in his heart. And besides... he had promised Tails after all that he'd talk to her.

He shifted his weight to face the natural way the chair was pointed. "Go ahead."

Sighing, and trying not to cheer like she just won something, Amy slid into the chair opposite the hedgehog, setting her tray full of food down.

For a few moments, they both sat in a very awkward silence, Sonic absentmindedly playing with his food, breaking all of his fries in half. Amy couldn't eat either, but her eyes never left Sonic.

_Oh, he's really taking this breakup hard... he must have really cared about Blaze..._ Amy's heart hurt at that sentence, but she set her face like flint._ I gotta help him out._

"I'm sorry, Sonic... about you and Blaze," she said, swallowing painfully. "And I'm sorry I snapped at you yesterday."

His heart moved once again at that comment. Sonic's eyes drifted upwards, and for one of the first times in his life, he actually took the time to _look at_ Amy Rose. Her pretty emerald eyes were practically moist from unshed tears, her smooth lips held a frown that looked so foreign on her. Her pink quills framed her pixie, attractive face. No, she certainly wasn't hard on the eyes.

_But_ what was this now? She wasn't happy that he and Blaze weren't an item anymore? She wasn't throwing around the 'm' word? She just wanted to talk to him, make him feel better? Huh... maybe the girl really did care about him after all.

" 'S okay..." he said, and a disfigured smile appeared, but it didn't even reach halfway up his muzzle, let alone to his eyes. "I know I need to move on and stop being such an idiot about this whole thing."

"But it's hard, isn't it?" Amy said with empathy, and resisted a serious urge to reach across the table and place a hand on his clenched fist. Her eyes traced up his arm, and she had to suppress a gasp at seeing the conspicuous red burn carved into his tan flesh. What was this? Sonic never sustained injuries for very long...

"Yeah..." Sonic scratched his head and hid his arm under the table, embarrassed that it hadn't healed yet. "I still love her, I think. Even after all she's done to me..."

Amy's heart sunk. _He still loved her... Did you really think you could get him on the rebound, Ames?_

"But..." Sonic sighed. "She doesn't love me..." his voice trailed off as his heart squeezed in his chest.

Sonic shifted uncomfortably. How had those three sentences sneaked out of him? He was not used to sharing his feelings... baring his thoughts like this... and to someone like Amy?

Why was it she could always bring out a softer side to him, a side that he feared so much because it tore at his outer-cool? Half of what he feared about Amy was what she could do to him, strip away at his ego... and now she was seeing him at the rawest he'd ever been. She was seeing the non-heroic Sonic, the hurting guy on the inside, the one he never before let surface.

And she was still here.

Huh.

"Ah, never mind. I know you probly don't care," he said quickly and removed his gaze from her, as a wave of heat brushed over his muzzle. He was now feeling like he just wanted to run and get away...

Amy's hand was suddenly on top of his, her warm fingers gently caressing his knuckles. It felt too nice for Sonic to pull away, though his blush deepened.

"Of course I care about you, Sonic... I never stopped caring about you. I hate to see you hurting. We all hate it. But I want to be here for you... to help you out. It's not good for you to keep all of your feelings bottled up like you've been doing."

Sonic looked back up at Amy, and the sincerity of her tone and expression touched his heart. For a few seconds his eyes caressed her light, pretty features, taking them all in. This was a side of Amy he'd never seen much of... one that could be gentle, loving, sweet... Was this truly the real Amy?

He reached up to scratch his ear in thought. The fact that he didn't know about her was odd. But _anyway_... what was Amy doing stealing his thoughts and distracting him from his larger problems anyway?

_That might not be such a bad thing, ya know..._

Unwilling to go down that route, he shrugged the feeling off. _  
_

"Thanks Amy, but I just... haven't felt like myself lately. I don't know what's wrong with me... but.. it's like I feel so weak, so unable ta do what I want. I don't like it, but I just... can't help it."

Amy frowned. "We've all noticed you've been acting different," she noted.

"Trust me, I don't like acting this way but..." he grimaced. "Blaze... I gave her everything, all my devotion, all my love... but she hardly noticed. And she broke it off so harshly... like she didn't even care about me. She just turned her back and walked away... like I meant nothing to her." He paused, already freaked out that him and Amy _Rose _were having this conversation, and unwilling to go deeper.

But something in Amy clicked at his words. She understood the pain of rejection and unrequited love all too well. While part of her was screaming,_ the jerk deserves it, doesn't he? That's just karma coming back around on the selfish punk..._ But Amy couldn't say that to his face. Her heart was already beating in rhythm with Sonic's anyway... she felt deeply for him. Seeing him hurting, hurt her as well.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" she said, and clutched Sonic's hand tighter in comfort.

"Oh, you have _no_ idea how much it hurts, to completely give yourself to someone, and have them just ignore you in return," Sonic said, looking squarely into the young girl's eyes. "You don't have a _clue, _Amy... what that's like, to love someone who doesn't love you-"

And that's when it hit him like a ton of bricks.

_Oh. _

Sonic's heart clenched at his own words, the irony suddenly washing over him, leaving him stupefied.

_But-_

He couldn't move... he was too shocked, too paralyzed... the moment of epiphany was really doing a number on him.

_You have **gotta** be... _

Was this... _this_, right_ here_, this dull ache from pining and unrequited love... was this how Amy had been feeling for_ him_... this whole time?

_No, no,** no**, that was im**pos**sible - _

Had she really longed after him and needed him, like those intense feelings he'd felt for Blaze a few days ago... only to be rudely rejected by himself, day after day, year after year, time after_ tim_e? _  
_

_ But that's not what I'm doing...It's not the same thing! She doesn't love me like I love Blaze! _

_No, Sonic... you're wrong. What Blaze did is exactly the same thing you've done to Amy... only you've done much worse. At least Blaze gave you a chance... She harshly rejected you. You harshly rejected Amy. And now you know how it feels.  
_

_Oh maaaaan..._

_What have I done to her? How could I have been so...  
_

...How in the world had Amy kept on, and remained so incredibly cheerful on the outside... when for all of these_ years_ she felt so much for him and he'd given her absolutely nothing? When he'd been so _cruel..._

Past scenes played through his mind at the speed of sound, like a taunting nightmare:

Amy coming up to him smiling and begging for a date... only for him to rashly shout no and rush off without a care... Over and over and over... he'd pushed her away, refused to even _talk_ to her or** look** at her...

Sonic couldn't move, he could hardly breathe... If his massive ego had been shaken to the core by Blaze rejecting him... then this realization had thrown him through the blender, turned him inside out, as his own selfish and rude behavior was thrown back in his face.

_Serves me right... I was such a jerk..._

As these thoughts spun like a whirlwind through Sonic's already confused and hurting soul, Amy was smiling, just a little, and her emerald green eyes were shining with a hopeful light. "Actually, Sonic... I do. I know what it's like to give someone your everything... and have them just run off without a care. I do know what it's like to spend all day dreaming of someone... and then when you finally do see them, they won't even give you the time of day."

Her words grew in emotion and tone, bordering on anger.

"I _know_, Sonic, what it's like... to bend over backwards for someone, and have them ignore you in return. I **know** what it's like to give everything to that special someone, and have them be so mean... I know exactly what you're feeling. It_ hurts._" She choked and tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

"OH Don't you see, Sonic? This is what you've been doing to me, all of these years! This is what you put me through! Every time you ran away... do you know how much you hurt me, Sonic?" She sputtered out, all that she'd ever wanted to tell him came gushing out in a wave. "You never even gave me a chance! You never even listened to me! You wouldn't even look at me! All you did was run off or made up some excuse about how busy you were! You're so nice to everyone else, but when it came to me, you'd be so mean! Why, Sonic? Was I really that awful, did you really _hate _me **that** much?" Amy paused from her confession, now breathing hard.

The two hedgehogs stared at each other, and even though Sonic was still gaping in shock and Amy was close to tears, they were looking into a metaphorical mirror, their hearts both hurting in the same way. There was understanding in that gaze. Empathy.

In one fell swoop, for the first time in his life, Sonic actually _understood_ Amy Rose. It now made sense. Why she had stalked him everywhere. Why she had glomped him. Why she had gotten angry with him. Because she_ loved_ him. And this love stuff, this heart stuff... was not something that went away easily, he now knew. He now knew exactly how she felt.

_Ho-ly crap..._

His jaw was almost to his chest as he studied the_ amazing_ girl sitting across from him. How on _Mobius_ had she kept on, fueled by empty? And more importantly...

Why?

_Why_ had she continued chasing after him, after she'd gotten absolutely nothing out of him? Why did she... persist? Why did she continue to love him, though it was painful?

Sonic couldn't even _dream_ of chasing after Blaze for _years_... and have her keep rejecting him... being hurt like that day after day...

_OH man what have I done?_

"A-amy," he stuttered out her name.

Only Amy could make him stutter. Blaze never made him stutter... Blaze made him the cocky Cassanova. Amy... Amy stripped away all the layers. That's why he'd run from her... she exposed all that was in him that wasn't the hero.

All the blood had drained from his face, and his chest was heaving. "I... you... oh maaaan..." Sonic didn't even know where to begin.

His head suddenly found itself cradled in his hands. Pressure tugged behind his eyelids... threatening to tear him apart. He'd felt awful before with the whole break up thing, but now he felt even worse. He knew what it was like on both sides of the coin... and this side sucked.

_Now you know..._

"Amy, I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am," he finally said, his voice quivering. "Really... I had no idea that I was ... was hurting you so terribly this whole time...I... wow... I'm sorry. I've been a completely selfish jerk."

He lifted his head back up to look at her across the table, expecting to see anger... But only soft tears dripped down the side of Amy's face. The look of remorse on Sonic's face was unmistakable...

Amy placed her other hand next to his, sandwiching it between her glove in comfort. What could she say? He obviously felt bad for doing this to her... but-

_That doesn't mean he loves you back, Amy... he just feels bad. _

Her heart sunk lower. _Oh, now he just pities me. He still loves Blaze, doesn't he... I'm just the poor little girl that he's been abusing. _

_Nothing has changed. _

Sonic raised his other hand to add it to the soft pile. "Can you... can you forgive me? I swear, I'm not going to... going to be so awful to you anymore. I'm not going to rush away anymore. I-I dunno about more than _that_ but... we can be good friends, okay? Can you forgive me?"

Amy studied his guilty expression, though her heart had warmed when he'd said 'good friends'. Ah... Sonic...

_It's a start, girl! Maybe this could bloom into something more! It's better than nothing. You can dream again, Amy!_

She smiled and wiped her tears on her shoulder, since her hands were full at the moment. "Okay, Sonic... I can forgive you..."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Amy. You're... you're a good girl. You didn't deserve... I still can't believe how incredibly rude I was to you. I just... never knew until I got the same treatment."

Suddenly Blaze popped back into his head, and how she'd treated him, and Sonic's heart clenched in pain again. Man... This was soooo not his day...

But no... No, NO, he wasn't even going to think about Blaze right now. He just wouldn't _let _himself. He was going to... treat Blaze like he'd treated Amy. Just refuse to think about her... and let her just drift from his thoughts. What good was dwelling on the past, anyway?

Well, one thing was solved, for the most part. Blaze was pushed the very back of his mind. Instead, Sonic found his thoughts consumed with Amy Rose... and her amazing devotion and love for _him_... over the years, when at his most selfish moments, and even when he was at his rawest: right now.

"Amy..." Sonic said her name with immense admiration and wrapped her petite hand in his, studying her dazzling emerald eyes and the warm, pink blush that spread over her muzzle at his contact. "You... you are one _amazing_ girl."

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

Oh my... I hope I didn't go overboard with Sonic's little epiphany there... ^^' But that was the _whole point_ of this story and why I made him fall head over heels for Blaze and have her reject him in the first place, so that he could see what he was doing to Amy, and how much he was hurting her. So that he could _understand_ her. And realize how amazing her love is for him, how she kept chasing him after getting nothing.

My inspiration for this particular part, if you care, was the movie Fireproof. In that movie, there's a very poignant scene (But the issue is VERY different, though still... similar) that I twisted.

BUT never fear, this story is not over yet. Far from it...There's going to be at least 2 more chapters, but probably 3... because I wouldn't like making a story with 9 chapters, I think that would bother me. :D

Anyway, there's still a lot that needs to happen, as Sonic still hasn't properly dealt with his feelings for Blaze, AND doesn't _love_ Amy yet, he just "gets" her. But, I do believe he's on his way there. And with a little author magic... ^_^

And for those of you worried about Amy being "just the rebound," eh... that's a bit of a problem, I know, but I got a kind of solution for that, too. Hopefully...

So I still got some (okay, A LOT) of work to do before I can call this a story. Thanks for reading so far!


	8. Just Friends

01sonamy01, JazzTheHedgehogSingingStar, Novus Umbra, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, Kurdave, enustikehtelkcaJ, Constanza Rose, AutoKnight01, Ksonic, XoxoSonamy4440oxoX, OddSakura, Alyssacookie, SkulY2K, Writer's Freedom, Mike Prower the Fox, CherrletheChicken, bk00, [no name], poka, xEmberChanx, PastaxRocks, SugarhogRose, Matthais123, Avitala:

You all spoil me. Thank you, thank you, thank you SO MUCH! : )

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

Chapter 8: Just Friends

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

"... and then what did he do?"

Cream was sitting on the edge of her seat, the bowl of ice cream in front of her melting away in the summer heat as she eagerly listened to her best friend.

"Well..." Amy continued her story of last night, ignoring her own cone for the time being. "He took me home, saying he needed to think about all of this."

"Sonic said he needed to _think_?" Cream clarified.

"I know, right? Sonic thinking..." Amy had to smile. "But Cream, he was just _so_ shocked! He said he didn't realize how much he'd been hurting me this whole time until Blaze did the same thing back to him. Isn't that ironic? And then he kept apologizing, saying how very sorry he was that he kept leaving me for all those years... and I forgave him, of course. I mean, he felt really, _really_ bad. He even said that I was 'an amazing girl' for sticking with him. Oh, and then he went on to say that he wasn't going to run away from me anymore or be a jerk. He said we could be 'good friends'... and then he carried me home," she finished with a stifled giggle in memory of his strong arms wrapped protectively around her, and her face brushed against his impossibly soft chest as he held her.

Cream swallowed a spoonful of vanilla ice cream. "Did he kiss you goodnight?"

Amy sighed, but it didn't erase her smile. "I _wish._ I was hoping that he would, but he just gave me a really cute smile, said maybe he'd take me out sometime, and ran away. I think that he was blushing, too." It was getting harder and harder not to giggle.

"So... do you think he likes you now?"

"That's the thing, Cream. I dunno. I _hope_ that he does but... I'm not sure. I know that he feels_ bad_ for me, but... I'm hoping it's not just pity. I still think that he likes Blaze a little, but that doesn't mean I can't change that." Her smile turned darker for a second. "But honestly, Cream, I don't know where our relationship is right now, it's a little vague. I hope that he follows through on his promise not to be a jerk to me anymore."

For a minute Amy let her mind wander as she gathered chocolate ice cream on her tongue. Did she honestly have a chance with Sonic now? Last night he said he'd think about it, but... everything was just so vague at this point. Amy just wasn't sure what to think. On the one hand, she was fantasizing that he'd fall in love with her now, but her more sensible side, a side that had started developing as soon as Sonic had broken her heart, was reminding her that all he felt for her now was pity and guilt.

Would that be all he'd feel for her, though? Amy licked at her cone again. No... if they started to become better and better friends, then Amy was _sure_ that Sonic would end up falling for her. All it would take was a small push, and she'd be in Sonic's arms.

"I think we need to have another talk, me and Sonic," Amy said and looked back at Cream, nodding and licking her ice cream cone, feeling more hopeful then she'd been over the past few days.

...xxx...

Amy Rose.

Yes._ That_ was what was on Sonic's mind on this fine June morning, as the hedgehog lied on his back on top of a secluded roof, his jade green eyes trained to the dull, overcast sky above him. Silvery gray clouds loomed overhead, but the occasional break in them allowed Sonic a peek at the brilliant blue sky that was hiding behind the said clouds. A flock of flickies flew by overhead, and he sighed contentedly.

Amy Rose.

_[_It was odd to think, that the girl Sonic had taken such great pains to distance himself from... had ended up being the closest to his heart after all._]_

It was truly uncanny and unusual, that both of them had gone through such a similar experience. Now, Sonic didn't believe in fate or destiny... but he still found himself thinking it was an awful big coincidence. Though it wasn't like it was _exactly_ the same - Sonic had fallen for Blaze really quick and was dumped just as fast, while Amy's love was more slow and time tested.

Ah, but whatever. Sonic didn't care _why_ it had happened... but he just found himself suddenly enveloped in thoughts of Amy. He'd told her last night that he'd need more time to think about everything and process it, but it turned out all this thinking had gotten him nowhere. He now found himself wishing he woulda_ talked longer_ with her.

He was now intrigued with Amy. Curious. Suddenly he wanted to know more about her. Who was this girl who had stalked - okay, followed - him everywhere? What made this girl tick? What fueled her?

The biggest question to Sonic, though, was:_ why_ had she kept on loving him over these years when he'd given her so little? That, to him, was the kicker. Sonic couldn't imagine living with a daily heartbreak for years - the past few days had been more than enough for a guy not used to being emotional.

Urgh, Blaze... How she'd rejected him... the odd twinge of a smile played at Sonic's lips as he suddenly realized something. If Blaze was treating him like he treated Amy, and their situations really were that parallel... Sonic extended the metaphor. He also knew... what it was like to be the one without any feelings. And how Blaze had acted to him...that suddenly made perfect sense. If she didn't love him, then of course she would be annoyed by his persistent actions! Just like he was with Amy all the time!

Sonic sat straight upright and his hands came to rest on his knees, but was still dumbfounded. Huh, who would've thought that girls... could actually make_ sense_?

But back to Amy. Blaze... Blaze was in his past, choking on his dust. He wasn't going to dwell on his lost love.

Wow... it was amazing how Amy had just completely turned Sonic on his head with this whole thing. He'd spent his whole night in awe. Of Amy herself, yes, but also... himself. Through her, Sonic had come to understand himself. Amy had illuminated his own behavior for him. In fact, she'd turned him - dare he say it - head over heels.

But... not in that way. He was_ sure, _not in that way. He didn't love Amy... he was pretty sure of that. But still... she'd thrown him for a loop and topsy turvy... just by being there for him and caring for him. It felt good to be loved, Sonic couldn't deny that.

And he felt like she at least deserved a chance now. He was certainly intrigued by the girl. Actually_, _he_ wanted_ to go on a date with her now, to find out more about her.

_She deserves a date. She's been wanting one for forever. Haven't I kept her waiting long enough? Besides, I really do want to get to know her better._

_Yeah... I know, but... why should I get her hopes up? If I really don't like her, I shouldn't let her think that I do by asking her out. I don't want to break her heart more than I already have._

_You don't like her at all? What was that you felt yesterday?_

_Just guilt and understanding. I was just shocked. And besides, Blaze..._

_No, Sonic, you can't have Blaze, she's with another guy. And she never loved you. At least Amy will help you forget and provide a distraction...  
_

_But I don't want to** use** Amy like that. I don't want to break her heart more than I already have._

_But you'd make her happy you know. And who knows, you might end up liking her after all._

_... hm, wouldn' that be ironic?_

_Look, one date can't hurt. I'll make it perfectly clear to Amy that we're just friends, though... so it's not like I'm just using her to get over Blaze._

And with that decision, Sonic jumped off the rooftop and sped away to go pick up Amy, feeling more light and free than he had in a while._  
_

...xxx...

She wasn't home. Normally something like this wouldn't make Sonic panic, but this time he found himself oddly worried... and disappointed. Was the girl hiding from him now? Hadn't he'd said that he'd talk with her again? Hmph. Oh well, he'd have to keep looking then. The next place he checked was Cream's house.

"Yes, Sonic, what is it?" Vanilla said as she answered the door, smiling at the famous blue hedgehog.

"Uh, is... Amy here?" he asked hopefully.

When Vanilla smiled wider at this, his muzzle warmed.

"No, her and Cream went out to get ice cream and chat earlier." The rabbit paused when she noticed Sonic look down at the ground in disappointment. "Why would you like to know?"

"Ah, it's not like_ that_-" Sonic said and scratched his head. "I just... promised her I'd talk with her an'... yeah. That's it. Anyway, thanks Vanilla. I'll catch you later!"

Sonic then rushed off before he could say any more, leaving Vanilla with a fond, knowing smile.

_Ice cream, ice cream... oh crap, I didn't ask which place, did I_? Sonic thought, trying to picture in his mind all the ice cream parlors near Cream's house. _They probably went to Blizzard. _

He made a quick turn, hopped over a building, outran the cars speeding on the highway, and then finally came to the place where the pink hedgehog was hopefully hanging out. His jade eyes scanned the tables quickly, and as soon as he spotted Amy, his heart soared in victory and he raced over to the girl.

"Hey, Amy," Sonic said, and as soon as she looked at him with those sparkling emerald eyes his heart skipped a beat. Oh jeez... the familiar nervousness was already setting in.

"Oh, hi Sonic," the girl said, surprised to see him, though her face was glowing. _Did he seek me out? Is he going to...?_

Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat. "H-hey, now don't freak out on me, but... I was wondering if ya wanna, ya know..." he trailed off, biting his lip and shifting his weight nervously. Oh, why was this so hard? Asking Blaze was not this hard -_ don't think about **her**_! "... talk and hang out?"

_No way._ Amy's eyes got huge, and her mouth formed an 'O' before she said, "A da-"

"As _friends_," Sonic said quickly. "As friends, cause I really wanted ta talk with ya more and.. to uh, make up for all the ones I've missed?" He gave a sheepish smile, hating how easily he blushed around this girl. Just then he realized he was practically wringing his hands, and forced them back down at his sides. Oh, why was he so nervous? _It's just two friends hanging out, Sonic... it's no biggie, really. _

For a moment Amy just stared at him. The girl had pictured the moment a million times... and it was finally happening. Oh, Sonic looked so perfect right then, as usual - blushing and squirming. Did that mean that he liked her now? Oh, how this girl could dream...

Amy heard a giggle that wasn't her own, and just then remembered that Cream was with her. Jeez, when Sonic had come up, everything else had faded. Amy shot her best friend a glance, but the rabbit kept beaming, obviously happy for Amy.

The pink hedgehog's eyes widened in giddiness at Cream before glancing back at her crush. "Oh Sonic, I'd love to go on a date with you..."

Sonic let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding._ Oh, c'mon, did you really think **Amy** would **reject** you?_ _Man, that would've been a bummer_. "Weeell, it's not really a _date,_ more like a _friend_ thing, but... Anyway, so... you ready?"

"Wait, you mean _now_?" Amy froze, and looked down at her outfit. Why had she picked today of all days to go casual?

Sonic shrugged. "Why wait?"

Amy shot Cream another glance in apology, but the rabbit shook her head. "No, it's okay, Amy. I don't mind. Didn't you say you wanted to talk with him?"

It was the girl's turn to blush. "Yeah, I guess I did. Thanks Cream, I'll see you later, okay?" she turned back to Sonic. "Okay, now it is then."

She slid out of the booth and beamed at Sonic, trying to suppress her inner fangirl which was clawing around inside of her, begging her to start squealing and squeezing Sonic. But her brain reminded her that he'd said "as friends," and so she reeled herself in and followed him out of the parlor. The mid-day June sunshine warmed Amy as soon as she stepped outside, and the girl had to smile. She turned to Sonic, but the hedgehog was just looking at her almost dumbly.

"So, where d'ya wanna go?" he asked casually.

"Oh, it doesn't matter to me," Amy said honestly.

"Ah, okay," Sonic started walking down the bustling street, and Amy quickly fell into step beside him. "I just wanted to talk for a bit, but," he surveyed their crowded surroundings. "I don't think this is the best place to do it."

"Yeah, probably not," she giggled again, "So do you have another place in mind?"

"Actually..." Sonic looked up the sky, noticing that most of the clouds that had been up there this morning had cleared, leaving an almost unrestricted view of the baby blue sky. Though some stubborn clouds from a passing front still lingered.

He looked back at Amy and smiled, his mouth just a gentle upturned curve, but it reached his eyes this time. "I _do_ got a place."

Amy had to gasp as Sonic suddenly scooped her into his arms and smiled down at her. "Hang on, okay?"

The girl didn't have time to respond as Sonic took off, so she just clutched tighter to him, _thrilled _that he was holding her and running off to take her somewhere. Oh, how often had she dreamed of this moment, right here, to be in Sonic's strong arms? Amy looked up to study his cute face, and she couldn't resist grinning and softly nuzzling into him.

Sonic shook his head in wonder and finally completed the last leg of the journey. He came to a gradual halt, knowing that the momentum could be unforgiving to Amy if he'd stopped too quickly. He set the pink hedgehog back on her own two feet, and then his jade eyes feasted on the clearing in the forest he'd brought them to. On the west side, a babbling brook cut through the trees, and on the east, a hill of dark gray rocks bordered the edge of the clearing. He looked back at Amy and saw her eyes gleaming in wonder.

"Wow... this place is pretty," she gushed and then looked at Sonic. "And _romantic._"

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is. Wanna sit?"

Amy nodded and slipped to her bottom, then smoothed down her dress to shyly cover her legs. Sonic came to rest a few feet from her, leaning back on his hands on top of the green grass. For a moment they sat in silence, listening to the wind, before Sonic spoke.

"You might be wondering why I brought you all the way out here, huh?"

Amy nodded, though she was watching every breath Sonic took in awe. She was fighting to keep her hopes down, but was losing horribly. Amy had to stop and pinch herself, it just now sinking in that Sonic had taken her somewhere romantic... _Oh, Sonic!_ Once again, Amy had to reel her feelings in. She just wanted Sonic to finally return her love for him... but did he? Or did he really just want to be friends?

"Well... last night, I just..." he paused to gather his thoughts, "I kept thinking about you."

Amy blushed, not believing her ears. "Me?"

"Yeah. I kept thinking back, you know, to how I treated you and I realized... you were pretty amazing, what you put up with. I mean, honestly. I know that I could never chase Blaze like that for years."

Both hedgehogs cringed at the cat's name, and Sonic shook his head. "But you... you did. You stuck with me, no matter how I acted. That's pretty impressive, you know. But Amy... there's one thing I still can't figure out, and I wanted to ask you," Sonic said, and turned to look deeply into her glowing eyes. He had to smile when he saw how happy he was making her with this. "_Why _didn't you just give up on me? I mean, really. I didn't really do much to keep your hope alive, ya know. And... I'm sure that you could've found someone else who liked you..."

Amy shook her head. "I know that I could've given up... but I don't know _why _I didn't stop chasing you. But my feelings for you never went away; no matter what you did, I still loved you and wanted you... I guess... I guess I just kept telling myself that you were_ worthwhile_ to me. And so, I was willing to wait... because to me, you were worth everything."

Sonic had to smile, as his heart was touched by such a simple, almost childish faith. She had really thought that he was worthwhile, after all he'd done? _I mean, yeah, I'm a stud, _Sonic thought,_ but she was willing to overlook everything else? She was willing to wait for me no matter what? _It was flattering to say the least.

"Even... when I was with Blaze?" He immediately regretted bringing up the topic, as it was still sore to both of them... but he wanted to know. He _needed_ to know.

Amy looked down at her hands. "Well... that hurt," she admitted. "But... it didn't make me stop loving you. Even though I knew I should have, because you liked Blaze and not me. Ms. Vanilla told me to get over you... but she didn't understand... my feelings for you weren't going away. And, Sonic," she leaned forward, "they still haven't."

Ah, why did that make his heart melt again?

_She still likes you, Sonic._ Yes... she did. And as the blue hedgehog studied her incredibly green eyes, he saw something in them that he'd never seen in Blaze's: Tenderness. Caring. Affection.

Love.

_And it's the type of love that doesn't depend on anything you do... she's already proven that much, man. This incredibly sweet girl is hopelessly, unconditionally head over heels in love with you. _

He had to turn away. Looking into Amy's love-saturated eyes was making him dizzy.

"Wow... uh, thanks Amy. I'm flattered, really..."

Amy beamed, her own heart melted. "You're welcome, Sonic. I'll always be here if you need anything, okay?"

Yep, sweet was definitely an appropriate adjective for this girl. Was this the real Amy? he wondered. Could it be that the Amy he'd come to think he knew, the aggressive, angry, jealous girl, was not her main personality? And that it only came out when she was around him, because he was being a jerk and she cared so much for him?

Awe. That's what flooded Sonic's heart at that moment, and he turned back to the girl. How had he missed that, this whole time he'd known her? How had he been so freaking oblivious?

"Thanks, Amy... I mean that, really," Sonic said and reached over to put his hand on top of hers, stroking the top of her hand gently.

Amy blushed at his contact, and Sonic again found himself intrigued at the girl. Why was she blushing? He'd always thought that as soon as he would take her out on a date (not that this _was_ one, or anything...), Amy would be all squealy and clingy... but now the girl was just embarrassed. It was odd. Man... he had so much to learn about this girl. And he couldn't _wait_ to find out more.

The cobalt hedgehog suddenly stood up, and for the first time in a few days, had a genuine grin on his muzzle. "Hey, let's get out of this clearing, huh? There's still a lot of daylight left... you wanna do somethin'?"

Amy couldn't believe this. She'd spilled her heart out to Sonic... and he still wanted to spend time with her. She was thrilled. No, thrilled didn't even begin to come close to what she was feeling.

The girl was downright euphoric.

"Of course I'd do something with you, Sonic!" she almost shouted, trying not to launch herself at him. Instead she shakily approached him, ending in a gentle, warm hug. "Thank you _so much_..." she whispered in his ear.

Sonic accepted the embrace, though he found himself blushing heavily as he wrapped his own arms around Amy. When she let go and looked deeply into his eyes with that tender gaze, Sonic found his heart warming all over again.

"Cool. I'll let you pick, huh?"

"Okay... uh... how about..." Amy paused, her mind going through the options. She wanted Sonic to have fun with her... just in case it would be the only time she'd get to spend with him. "Twinkle Park?" she asked cautiously.

To her relief, Sonic grinned. "You bet," he said, and sped off with one giddy girl in his arms.

Sonic found himself having a blast with Amy on the resulting outing, fun that he'd never had with Blaze because Amy actually laughed and enjoyed his company. Though part of him wished that he was spending time with Blaze herself instead. But he couldn't tell himself that. He couldn't keep pining over the cat. He'd have to move on... and Amy, at least for now... was helping him bridge the gap back to his normal life of independence. Yeah, Sonic was quite sure that him and Amy would remain just friends... though a second date, really, really wouldn't hurt anything.

Would it?

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

This chapter is overly fluffy, isn't it? Ah, crap... Fluff just comes too easily for me... Oh well. :)

It's also a bit of a filler chapter, I realize that. There's still one big thing that's going to happen in this story, but I needed to build up to that. You'll see... Thanks for reading so far!


	9. An Old Flame

JazzTheHedgehogSingingStar, xEmberChanx, enustikehtelkcaJ, Kurdave, Alyssacookie, wind writer25, Mana the Cat Magician, Constanza Rose, Novus Umbra, Avitala, AutoKnight01, Writer's Freedom, 01sonamy01, OddSakura, MyLoveForYou, CherrletheChicken, SkulY2K, Mike Prower the Fox, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, IHeartSonAmy, SherryBlossom:

Okay, this chapter's going to be heavy on the description, mostly because I have a lot of stuff to_ explain, _as some time has passed since last chapter and so I wanted to tell you what's been going on. Hope you don't get bogged down by it...

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Chapter 9: An Old Flame

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Giddy laughter erupted from the movie theater as the door suddenly burst open, courtesy of two rambunctious hedgehogs, who were both cracking up, causing passerby to all stare at them. Yes, the movie had been hilarious in its own right, but it had nothing to do with the sudden bout of laughter causing Sonic and Amy to clutch each other and shake with laughter. Unfortunately, it would be hard to articulate the exact cause of their giddiness, as it was one of those "you have to have been there" stunts, but know it had something to do with Sonic tripping in his haste and ending up in a mound of popcorn.

Once Sonic finally caught his breath, he raised up his gloved hand to wipe away his giddy tears. "Oh _man.._." he said, and turned to Amy, though his heart jumped as he realized how _close_ she was to him, her own emerald eyes glistening. When they'd been laughing, the hedgehogs had somehow ended up in each other's arms, only inches apart, breathing the same sweet air.

Their eyes met, both widening slightly in wonder at how they'd managed to get in this situation. Sonic felt his heart rate spike, thumping so loudly he was sure Amy heard him. Her hand moving on it's own, Amy suddenly reached up to softly caress Sonic's face before the flustered hedgehog pulled back. Her heart sank a little, though she was used to Sonic's hesitancy by now.

Another leftover (though now more nervous) chuckle escaped him, causing Amy to lighten up and giggle once again, as she loved Sonic's cute little laugh. Then again, she just loved everything about Sonic. The girl let her eyes drift over his cute face, the lovely golden sunset in the background casting his body in a ethereal glow.

The past two weeks had been an absolute _dream_ for Amy. Sonic had managed to carve out at least one hour to spend with her every day, whether it was just to chill or to take her somewhere. And while he insisted that they were just friends and kept his heart locked as usual, he was still incredibly sweet and charming. But still... while she was very happy that Sonic was giving her the time of day now... Amy found herself wanting more. Sonic had been mum on any feelings he might have for her, but Amy was a little afraid to ask him.

So, after all this, Amy _still_ found herself waiting on Sonic and wondering where the key to his heart was... though she at least had something to keep her going now. It was better than him running from her.

Once he was sure his blush had faded to a fairly normal level, Sonic allowed himself to turn from the sunset back to Amy, though the way that she'd been admiring him caused heat to rise back to his cheeks. Why did she have to love him so much... it made him feel so weird...

"Well, Ames, that was fun... you ready to go home now?" he asked, grinning and trying to break the awkwardness.

"Sure," she agreed and smiled as Sonic pulled her into his arms and headed off to her house.

Now, some girls might object to being chauffeured and carried around like they were weak and couldn't do anything by themselves, but Amy could find nothing to complain about as she snuggled into Sonic. This really was the only time he would allow her to get so close to him, and so she always enjoyed it fully. Besides, it was awful romantic.

"Thanks so much, Sonic, for another date," she said softly, unable to contain her grin as the hedgehog dropped her back off at her house.

While part of Sonic cringed at calling these 'hang out times' as 'dates' and had told Amy as much, he didn't really bother to correct her anymore. Which was probably a bad thing, but... "Hey, like I say, it's no prob. I like spending time with ya, Ames," Sonic said honestly.

She blushed at her nickname and wrapped her arms around Sonic, letting her fingertips softly touch his curved back-quills. "I like spending time with you, too."

A dumb grin found it's way curving up Sonic's features, but his shyness caused him to start pulling away from the cute pink hedgehog. No need to give her any ideas. "Well, I'll catch ya later." He cocked his head and winked in such a perfect gesture that Amy's heart melted.

"Bye Sonic..." she whispered, and found herself happy and clutching her chest, even as her hero and love sped away from her, off to do those mysterious Sonic things.

It was times like these, as his heart was racing and giving his own feet a run for their money, that Sonic wished he could spend more time with the girl, but... he really didn't want to get her hopes up.

Nevertheless, Sonic was glad that they were on good terms now. He liked being able to have a decent conversation with her, and just hang out. Oddly enough, becoming good friends with Amy didn't take his freedom; on the contrary, he felt even more free now, since he didn't have to hightail as soon as he saw Amy. He wasn't scared that she was going to squeeze the air out of his lungs anymore. Also, Sonic found that he could just be himself around her, and she loved him for it. She loved everything about him. Honestly, Sonic felt lucky to have such a good friend as Amy.

But, yes, they were just friends. It wasn't like they'd_ kissed _or anything. Sonic knew that Amy wanted to be more, but he... didn't. Maybe it was because his last relationship was still fresh and still painful. Maybe it was because he wasn't ready to commit to anything more. _Mostly_ it was because he was quite sure he didn't really like her that way (honestly, he _really_ didn't...)

But also... it was because he didn't want to get her hopes up. Once he started officially dating Amy, there really was no turning back. And part of Sonic knew that he'd eventually have to break it off between them if they started dating (because while Amy wanted to get married, Sonic could never, ever see himself tying the knot. Ever.) ... leaving Amy upset and heartbroken.

He knew how painful it was to be dumped, and as much as Sonic had come to care for the girl, he didn't want Amy to go through that inevitable situation if they ever became a couple. And so he was content to just stay where they were and not go further. It was a bit of a compromise... though Sonic wouldn't deny that he was in control of their relationship.

He was happy, she was happy, and so Sonic felt like he was doing the right thing by this.

So that's why, when he approached Tails' house, and found the fox hosing down the Tornado in the front yard, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey little bro, watch where you spray that thing," he joked as he went around the long way to go inside, carefully avoiding the deadly spray of the hose.

Tails' blue eyes turned to face the hedgehog. "Oh hey, Sonic. You don't want to help me wash the Tornado?" he joked right back.

"Uh, I'll pass. I'm mostly here for a snack, if you don't mind," he chuckled and scratched at his ear. "If it wasn't for dinner with Amy earlier, I might've forgotten to eat."

Tails raised an eyebrow at this. He'd been watching Sonic's curious behavior over the past week, ever since they'd come back home, with observant eyes. For the most part he was typical Sonic again... though he was happier, if that were possible. He was also more forgetful, more spacey... though that was typical Sonic, too. Tails knew that it had a lot to do with Sonic and Amy's new thing (whether or not Sonic would admit they were "together" or not, Tails saw them as a couple), and was really happy for his big brother. But he also knew that it was only a matter of time until Sonic gave in and they became official. Either way, he was glad that two of his best friends were now on good terms.

Suddenly a sly smile appeared on the foxes face as he looked down at the liquid stream gushing out of the hose he was holding. He decided there was one good way to test his theory.

In one motion and as quickly as he could, Tails suddenly jerked the hose in Sonic's direction.

"_Hey_!" the hedgehog immediately protested, jumping out of the way of the cursed water. "What was _that_ for?"

Tails chuckled and turned the spray back to rinse the soapy foam off the bright red plane, though he noticed that he'd managed to get Sonic partially soaked, meaning he'd been distracted and hadn't reacted as quickly as he normally should. Interesting...

"Oh, sorry, Sonic... my hand must've slipped."

Sonic's eyes narrowed and he shook his head quickly, trying to shake off the water that was weighing down his quills. "Yeah, yeah..._ sure_."

Tails laughed again. "So... you came here for a snack, huh? Well, you know where the food is, you're welcome to it," he offered, knowing that Sonic practically lived with him as it was.

"Thanks, but I wanted to chat with you for a minute." A smile came back over his face as he was sure there was no more water on his body. "Man... life's so sweet right now, Tails... you wouldn't even believe it."

The fox smiled knowingly. "You and Amy, huh?"

"Are_ friends_, Tails. Why does no one believe me on this?" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"I never said you were any more than that, but why else would life be good for you now?"

Crap. "Well, it's just that... I feel free again, _alive_, giddy... and I have _no idea_ why." He paused and had to bring a hand up to his heart, as if it would contain the happiness that was practically bursting from the muscle.

Tails sighed and shook his head, though he was smiling. "It's happening again."

Sonic removed his eyes from the sky and back to to Tails. "What is?"

"Can you really not see it? You're falling for Amy."

His mouth dropped and a blush swept over his muzzle. "Wha- No I'm not! Why would you think that?"

Tails crossed his arms, his more logical, reasonable side emerging. "Look, Sonic, you say you're feeling more happy than usual, right? What else has changed in the past week besides you and Amy? Logic says that it's because of her that you're feeling different.."

Sonic's eyes made a complete circle of his surroundings, his mind spinning in cadence. "But wait, man, that doesn't mean I_ like_ her... I mean, she's just helping me get over _Blaze_, is all..." his heart sank at the thought of the cat. _Don't_.

"Then why are you dating her?"

"We're not _dating_, we're becoming better friends."

"Do you kiss all of your friends, Sonic?"

A deep red blush swept over his face. "Wha-she kissed me and it was on the cheek!" he said swiftly, his brow knitting defensively as Tails stifled a chuckle. "_Wait_, how did you find out about_ that_?" he demanded, crossing his arms.

Now Tails' cover was blown. "Oh, uh, Cream told me..."

Sonic cocked his head, "Cream, huh? I thought I told you to stay _away_ from girls..."

"So says the guy who swore off of them and is now dating Amy..."

"TAILS, we are not dating, okay?"

"So you don't like her?"

"Nope," Sonic said almost too quickly, even for him.

"But she still likes you, huh?"

Sonic sighed. "Yeah... this is sorta what I was worried about... I really didn't want to break her heart anymore... I mean, Tails, she wants to get _married_, and I could _never_ see myself doing that... but it's odd because I do feel something around her, but it's not like what I felt for Blaze... but look, I don't want to think about_ her_ right now. I really do think I'm over Blaze... but I just try not to think about her..." _It hurts too much..._ his smile became crooked. "I knew running from my problems would come in handy some time..."

Just then, before Tails could respond, one of his machines inside started buzzing. The fox frowned a little and turned off the hose, letting the green coil fall to the ground as he flew over to see what was up.

_Looks like it's coming from the inter-dimensional communicator_, he mused and pressed a few buttons on his control panel to get a visual on the monitor. His eyes scanned the first few lines...

"What is it? Egghead?" Sonic asked, coming up behind him.

The fox didn't respond, for all the blood had drained from his face upon reading the message.

"Well?" Sonic was breathing down his neck the next instant, and Tails quickly closed the window, beads of nervous sweat starting to form on his head. _That can't be... oh this is not going to turn out well..._

"N-nothing important..."

"_Tails_," Sonic warned in a deep voice, for he had seen a name on that message that he'd been spending a better part of a week trying to forget.

The fox let out a sigh, and bit his lip.

"Ya gotta tell me, man," Sonic persisted.

"Okay, I will but... uh, round the others up, okay?"

"Why can't you just tell me now?"

Tails once again looked at the ground. "I-I just don't want to say it twice."

"Is it bad?"

"Sonic, please, just... go get... Amy, Cream, and... Vanilla, okay?" Tails said quietly, though he still couldn't look at Sonic._ Oh man, this is not going to go down well..._

For a moment Sonic merely stared at his sibling, though a wave of nervousness hit him hard. Man... why couldn't this whole thing just fade away? Why did Blaze have to persist in his thoughts? Tails still refused to look at him, and Sonic's jade eyes drifted down to his arm, the burn scar Blaze had given him glaring back in an almost taunting matter. _I'm never going to heal..._

"Alright Tails," he said and sped off to go and get the others.

**...xxx... In Blaze's dimension, a while back ...xxx...**

He was nervous.

Okay, scratch that.

Nervous didn't even come_ close_ to a proper adjective to describe the anxiety that was stirring in Silver's heart, causing the hedgehog to be unusually jittery and watchful. This was both good and bad behavior for a castle guard... but this time, at least, it had nothing to do with his job.

It had everything to do with a girl.

But not just any girl. Blaze. The cat who had set his heart aflame with all sorts of crazy feelings, who listened to him and didn't belittle him, who fought right next to him numerous times, and most importantly whom he'd come to love over the few months that they'd come to know each other. And today... yes, today was the day. After many failed attempts, Silver decided that _tonight_... he was going to formally ask to go to the next step with her.

Oh man, can you say nervewracking? It wasn't like Blaze was a_ Princess_, or a_ Guardian_, or drop dead _gorgeous_ or anything.

But oh, how Silver _wanted_ this. He wanted it like he'd craved nothing else in his entire sixteen years of existence. Part of him had dreamed of this day and moment ever since he'd first laid eyes on the cat. He'd just known that he was going to end up being with Blaze, together, _married,_ him and her. Of course, he'd never _told _anyone about that - for they'd claim he was just being naive in hoping that a princess would ever notice him.

But she _had_ noticed him. Silver and Blaze had gotten close lately, before Sonic had tried to claim her and even more so after he'd left both of their lives. For the past week or so, Blaze had really seemed to warm up to him, even though Silver had assured her that he didn't want to rush into anything too fast with her. He'd give her time to think, just like she'd wanted. And in return Blaze... well, she'd been opening up to him, baring more and more of her soul to him, showing Silver just how special of a girl she really was. And even hinting that she did have some feelings for hm after all.

And Silver had decided, that while they were both the magical age of sixteen, he was going to ask Blaze to spend the rest of her life with him. But getting married to a princess in this dimension involved a rather complex betrothal system. The first step in this process was to go to the girls' father and ask for his permission. In Blaze's case... this was the King himself. Yeah... it was _that _big of a deal.

Thanking his lucky stars for his guard privileges, Silver had sought out an informal audience with the royal leader. He was shaking in his boots the whole time, but the king had graciously given his blessing, probably because he'd just been glad his obstinate daughter would get a man after all... even though Silver hadn't an ounce of royal blood.

Either way, Silver had a green light... and he was going for it. Tonight.

He let out a nervous sigh as his golden eyes traced the corners of the velvet box cradled in his hands before stuffing it inside the valley of his back-quills and taking off. This was the third time this week that he'd told himself that he_ was_ going to _do_ this. The other two times... he'd gotten so close. He'd even reached for the ring, the words forming in his mouth... but then just chickened out. It was _hard_ to do this... and part of him was terrified.

_Yep, Silv, you're actually going to ask Blaze the Cat to marry you. Tonight. In just a few hours.  
_

_Oh man... what if... she says no? What if I'm ruining our friendship? What if I'm going too fast? What if..._

He raised his head to steel his thoughts and strengthen his resolve. _No... I can't think like that. I've already decided this a long time ago. I'm going to go through with this. Even though it'll be the hardest thing that I've ever had to do in my life... it'll be so** worth** it, to finally be with her... hold her in my arms, and stare deeply into her eyes...  
_

His thoughts ran faster through his head, and Silver used his psychokinesis to propel himself more quickly to the place that he'd told Blaze he wanted to meet her tonight. The last rays of the setting sun reflected off the surface of the lake below him, creating a rippling pattern of red and orange. Scattered across the top of the water were multi-colored leaves fallen from the surrounding deciduous trees, adding to the effect. Finally, his eyes spied Blaze, making his heart leap in his chest. She was clad in a pale yellow shirt and light blue pants, looking lovely as usual even though she'd never been one for pretty dresses. Her eyes were trained to the other bank, deep in thought as usual.

For a minute Silver stood still, hovering about a hundred or so feet above Blaze, trying to work up the nerve to go down there and not just zoom away, leave just like he'd already done at least twice. _Aw man... she's gonna say no... she's going to reject me... and I'm gonna be embarrassed... and we won't be friends anymore..._

_Bad idea, man... just let her go, she's not going to say yes. Why would she? She's Blaze! She's perfect, and beautiful, and important... you're just... a nobody..._

He bit into his lip. _  
_

S_ilver... she can't reject you, man. You love her, and she... loves you too, in her own way. You two were meant for each other...Now c'mon... just go down there.  
_

He swallowed and then glided downwards, landing next to the girl of his dreams. His boots crunched the fallen leaves underneath him, causing Blaze to turn her head towards him.

"Hello Silver."

"Hi Blaze," he managed to say, though he found himself blushing deeply. Aw man, there's no way I can ask this girl to marry me...

Blaze studied him with no small amount of curiosity. He'd been acting so odd lately. So flustered. He'd asked her to do something together a lot recently, and kept trying to tell her something that

"Blaze... I wanted to ask you something. It's... s-something I've been meaning to ask you for awhile now... but... I just..." he stopped. Gosh, he sounded like an idiot... but it was now or never. It might be a whole week before he'd work up this much nerve again. "Sorry, I just..."

She was watching him with those lovely golden eyes, eyes that were so pure, so shiny. Eyes that he'd fallen head over heels for. Eyes that he wanted to spend the rest of him life searching.

"Blaze, I just wanted to tell you... how much you mean to me. You've been my best friend ever since we've met... but much more than that, to me. You gave me confidence. You made me feel that I was doing something right. You... mean a lot to me, Blaze. And lately, I've come to feel even more for you."

He paused, but her expression was unreadable, though she clearly looked pleasantly surprised.

_Man, Silv... there's no backing out now... just do it, man! Go for it! _

His knees were feeling weak already, but Silver allowed himself to drop onto one of them anyway, causing Blaze's eyes to widen even further in recognition.

"Blaze, I've come to cherish you as more than a friend. I've come to _love_ you, more than I thought possible," With shaking fingers, he reached into his back-quills to produce a velvet covered box, opening it to reveal a silver ring, studded with a diamond in the shape of a heart surrounded by flames. "So, Blaze the Cat, would you... marry me, Silver the Hedgehog?" he said the words in the ceremonial order.

It felt so surreal... and for a minute, both of them just stared at each other, one with hope, the other with nothing but shock and awe.

Blaze looked down at the young man kneeling in front of her, offering her everything of himself. His gold eyes were wide and pleading, his shiny quills were ruffled in some stray breeze, his muzzle was twinged with a blush, his lips were shaking but smiling...

She had only one thought.

_This is the man I love... that I could spend the rest of my life with._

_But he wanted to ask me... Me? The fire-freak? The quiet, withdrawn one? The guardian?_ Never had Blaze thought that she'd ever end up finding someone to love. She never imagined that she'd ever come to crave someone else, the way she wanted and loved Silver. He'd awakened her deepest desires that she'd always kept in, the part of her that longed to be loved and needed someone to complete her. Blaze thought that she could handle everything herself... but Silver had proven time and time again to be her other half. She thought her destiny was solitude and distance from others, but Silver had given her hope, a friend, and now... a future.

With him.

"Silver..." she breathed, feeling an unusual tug at her eyes and warmth on her cheeks.

The hedgehog felt like he was about to collapse when Blaze reached forward to touch the side of his face. "Yes."

Complete ecstasy washed over Silver, freeing his heart to jump and leap for joy. _She said yes! She accepted me! We're getting married! Oh, Blaze..._

The cat's hand moved down to encase Silver's free one, lifting him back to eye level. Wasting no time, Silver slipped the silver ring onto Blaze's finger and then took her hand while looking into her eyes.

"I love you, Silver..." the cat whispered right before Silver pulled her into his strong arms and captured her lips in a strong, sweet kiss.

Bliss emanated from both of them as they kissed deeply, feeling like they were right exactly where they belonged: with each other.

"I love you, too, Blaze..." he added tenderly, his hands running up and down her back in a soothing pattern. "There is no one else that I'd rather be with than you..."

The cat moved her hands up from his fluffy chest to his ears and quills, her eyes tearing up. "I've never been so... happy... before... I never thought, that I could feel love... Thank you so much Silver..."

Blaze trailed off her sentence, and then leaned into her new fiancee, enjoying his warmth, strength, and love...

**...xxx... Back in Sonic's dimension, present time ...xxx...**

"So Tails, ya gonna spill it?" Sonic cut right to the chase, crossing his arms impatiently.

He was gathered in the crowded corner of his little bro's workshop, along with Amy, Cream, and Vanilla, as Tails had said to round them up. So obviously, it wasn't Egghead, then... and after all, he'd seen Blaze's name on the message.

This whole time his mind had been trying to come up with all the possibilities that news from the other dimension would hold concerning Blaze... but now he just wanted to know._ Oh dang it, why can't this whole thing just go away?_

When Tails merely looked at the ground in worry, Sonic was about to implore him again, but when Amy lightly touched his arm he bit his tongue, even though her hand was resting right on top of his still unhealed burn scar.

"Well, earlier today I got a message from Blaze's dimension," Tails started, and turned from Sonic's intense, impatient gaze. "Apparently... we've all been invited to... a betrothal ceremony."

_No... _Sonic's stomach dropped down to his feet, but Tails' next words were the real kicker.

"For Blaze and Silver."

Shock. _But she can't ... _Sonic's eyes closed almost involuntarily in pain. _No... _Blaze and Silver were... getting... together... permanently? Oh... why did this bother him so much? Why did this very news make his stomach turn in jealous nausea? Blaze and Silver... _Oh man_..._... I was **so** over her.._. _I had just began to forget about her and..._

Meanwhile, the others were oblivious to Sonic's pain. _  
_

"What's a bet-rose-sal?" Cream asked in confusion, tilting her head.

"_Betrothal_, dear," Vanilla corrected her daughter kindly. "It's a more formal way of saying engaged to be married. Although Blaze seems awful young for that."

"Well, it's more of a ... a pre-marriage, I guess," Tails explained, trying not to look at Sonic, "The message says that sixteen is the age of betrothal in Blaze's kingdom. Apparently, the way they do things over there is the betrothal lasts two or so years, while the couple gets to know each other better before they get married. It's like courting. But apparently as soon as a couple gets "betrothed", there's a mini-party of sorts to encourage the couple to stay together and for friends and family to give support, and since Blaze is a princess it's a really big event."

Amy's eyes were glimmering, loving how romantic the whole thing sounded. "So... this whole ceremony thing is like a _wedding_? We've been invited to a _wedding_?" She let out a squeal. "That means... we have to go shopping to get dresses and-"

Sonic suddenly wanted out. He couldn't stand to hear anymore. "Sounds dumb, count me out," he said and turned away, if only to hide the way his face was scrunching up in pain. "You guys go ahead."

And with that, Sonic took off, trying to outrun the sudden bout of jealousy and anger and pain that was threatening to overflow out of his heart for his old flame.

_Poor Sonic_, Tails mused after watching his older brother rush off.

Meanwhile, most of Amy's excitement had completely evaporated at seeing Sonic's aversion, and the girl now felt suddenly torn and hurt, just like she did when she'd found out Sonic loved Blaze the first time. _I thought... he was over her. I thought... he cared about me now... Oh, Sonic... _

"Amy, dear, you shouldn't be worried about that boy... he'll come along, I'm sure of it... now we have some preparations to do..." Vanilla's voice was drowned out.

It was Amy's dream come true to go to a wedding... but yet... _Sonic..._

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

Okay... I'm gonna get boiled in oil, I just know it...

First of all, _yay, Silver and Blaze are getting married_!... or atleast they're taking steps to get there! (I originally wanted them to be married for real, but knew that with the timing and flow of this story, it would be WAY too fast... so I made up some betrothal tradtion nonsense. C'mon, I know at least some of you are happy about that! I know it seems a little sudden, but I tried to explain it so it made sense.

I didn't plan on writing the Silvaze proposal scene out, as I wanted all of you readers to be just as shocked at the message as Sonic was, but I figured if I didn't give at least a little background on what happened you all would complain that I just sorta dropped this on you without an explanation. Plus I got to write a proposal scene, which was fun (though this is my first one...) ^_^

There are ALOT of reasons I decided to go with Silver and Blaze getting married... but we'll get into those details next chapter...

OH, and I also wanted to show you how Sonic and Amy's relationship is at this point, a couple weeks later. They're still friends, though they're starting to get closer, but Sonic's being reluctant to go further.

Though he STILL hasn't properly dealt with his feelings for Blaze, and is just pushing them away... and now that he finds out she's moved on, he's hurting more than he thought he was... but more on that in chapter 10...

By the way, the title for this chapter (An Old Flame) means nothing and is certainly NOT a horrible, groan-worthy pun... (c'mon, it was_ begging_ to be used!)

I'm absolutely _jazzed _about writing chapter 10, meaning it might be a quick update, but no promises, as I want it to be perfect. :3


	10. Together

AutoKnight01, rugtugba, Novus Umbra, Constanza Rose, JazzTheHedgehogSingingStar, Avitala, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, Soul the Catt, Mana the Cat Magician, 01sonamy01, Writer's Freedom, SherryBlossom, poka, Ghost the Hedgehog, Kurdave, OddSakura, enustikehtelkcaJ, MyLoveForYou, SonicAndAmy'sPen, HaosBlossom, Alyssacookie, Mike Prower the Fox, ItsStephanyx3, PastaxRocks, xEmberChanx, r0ckst4r1, RikkuMcClowFox:

This is a story of heartbreak, unrequited love, drama, understanding, empathy, and irony.

It's a story about humbling Sonic, breaking Amy's heart to mature her, teaching Blaze about true love, and... Silver's just lucky, I guess. Tails, Cream, and Vanilla are moral support.

Wait, why does this sound like the last chapter? Read on, guys and gals...

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

Chapter 10: Together

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

"Are you_ sure_, honey?"

The pink hedgehog looked down at her gloves for a minute, away from the bright blue glowing lights of the portal that Tails, Cream, and Vanilla were about to step through. To go to an almost-fairy-tale style wedding between a princess and a commoner in another dimension. It was the type of thing Amy had only dreamed of and read about, and now she had the chance of a lifetime to be a part of it, and to go to a romantic event...

And who else did she know that was likely to be married soon? If she missed this, she'd have to wait a long time to go to another one. None of her older "friends" were the marrying type (Knuckles? _Rouge_? **_Shadow_?**) and Tails and Cream were barely preteens, if that. And Sonic...

She sighed. Sonic... would be married to_ her_ one day, Amy kept telling herself that. But still... right now... he hadn't wanted to come, at all. Was it because the thought of Blaze being married was killing him that much? Had Sonic really wanted to _marry_ Blaze? Did Sonic ever think about marriage in a_ positive_ way, meaning maybe someday he actually would propose to her, kneeling in front of her with a huge shiny ring and a question he already knew the answer to...?

No, she was just being an optimist and putting a positive spin on it.

The truth was, right now the poor hedgie was probably running his legs off, still hurting from this news that his old flame was permanently moving on from him. Oh Sonic... she couldn't get the image of him crying out of her head.

"Amy, I did a bunch of calculations, and I figured with the time warp and everything we need to leave now... so this is the last chance to change your mind..." Tails ventured, breaking her thoughts.

Change her mind? Ha, that was something Amy Rose did seldom. Especially when it came to a certain blue hedgehog. And if he was hurting, how could she go and enjoy herself and have fun if she knew that meanwhile, Sonic was upset?

Amy surveyed the three of them. Tails had managed to slip on a nice, crisp suit, and both rabbits had donned matching pretty pink dresses. They all looked so nice... Amy knew that she _should_ be going with them. It was a dream come true, a fantasy. It would be hopeless romantic central over there, and yet... Amy couldn't leave Sonic behind, in the state that he was in. Couldn't.

She was going to give up one of her dreams for him.

"I'm not going," she quietly affirmed her earlier decision. "I... don't want to leave him here, when he's hurting... Sonic needs me." She paused and set her mouth in a determined line. "You guys have fun, and take pictures, okay?"

Cream's mouth twinged into a frown, Vanilla had a hint of a smile on her face, but Tails just shrugged, not understanding either hedgehog's behavior._ This love stuff makes no sense..._ he thought, but when he turned to Cream and her mom, he felt something stirring.

"Alright, dear. We'll see you when we get back," Vanilla said and stepped toward the dimensional portal.

Cream ran over to hug Amy, looking at her sister with milk chocolate eyes. "I hope you and Mr. Sonic feel better..."

"We will, Cream... have fun, okay? You can tell me all about it when you get back."

The younger rabbit nodded then leaped away, lingering at the edge of the portal. Tails just gave Amy a smile before taking Cream's hand and leading the two rabbits into Blaze's dimension. Without another thought, Amy left Tails' workshop to go on a hedgehog hunt.

...xxx...

He'd tried running.

He'd tried _not_ running.

He'd tried eating.

He'd tried borrowing the Tornado.

He'd tried bugging Knuckles, picking a fight with Shadow, and provoking Egghead.

But nothing, nothing could make Sonic shake how_ jealous and heartbroken_ he was feeling.

_Uuuugh, this shouldn't be happening to me! I was so over her._

_ I was. She was eating my dust, firmly in my past, and I'd gotten to the point that every time she'd cross my mind I'd sigh, yes, but... I'd started thinking of her less and less... and Amy helped with that, helped me forget, but... now... I found out she's... with someone else, and why does that hurt so much? _

_I was so OVER THIS!_

Marriage.

_Ugh. _

_Marriage is just much "I do" about nothing._

W_hat is with all the **obsession** with marriage around here, anyway? I mean, not just Blaze but Amy too. What's so appealing about wanting to bind yourself to someone else for the rest of your life and vow to love them forever? Why willingly give up your freedom? _

That just wasn't Sonic's game. He just couldn't ever see himself willingly letting himself be permanently attached to someone else. The thought frightened Sonic, who had no master but the wind, quite a bit. And yet... the thought of _Blaze_ getting married was tearing him up inside, twisting his stomach in nausea as he pictured Silver and Blaze together, kissing and-

_Oh, why should I** care** if she's getting married? It's not like I ever wanted to **marry** her, anyway! I just wanted to be with her forever, just us together... but no, there **was** a difference. _

_I'm sure, I just... can't think of it right now. Huh.  
_

_But it doesn't matter, does it? There's nothing I can do. Blaze is with someone else, making her vows...  
_

He paused, as his feet had carried him to one of his special places. Not much really, just the site of a large, couple-hundred-year-old oak tree in the middle of a tall-grassy meadow. Its gnarly branches held some of the best crooks for sleeping and relaxing to look at the sky... In a few quick leaps, Sonic jumped through the limbs and came to rest on one of them, trying to forget.

_I shouldn't care. I really shouldn't. Argh, why won't this just go away? Why can't I just forget?_

_And everything was going so well... me and Amy were getting closer... I was starting to maybe kinda like her... maybe... and then why does this whole thing have to come up?_

Before another thought could cross Sonic's mind, he suddenly felt the whole tree he was lying on shake violently. He was up in a flash, fueled by adrenaline, surveying the surroundings, his mind already going through the possibilities - earthquake, Eggman-

The tree shook again, this time so hard that Sonic almost fell out of it, but merely slipped and painfully landed on the branch below him. What in the world...? His eyes kept scanning his surroundings, when suddenly he caught a glimpse of the source of the tremor.

Nothing other than a bright red and yellow Piko Piko Hammer, attached to an unavoidable pink hedgehog.

"A-Amy!" he stuttered, flabbergasted to see_ her_ here, of all places. "H-how did you find me?"

_"You_ showed me this place." Her tone didn't have a bit of cheeriness.

_I'm becoming too predictable.._. Sonic jumped from his branch to the ground, still shocked to see the girl. "What are you doing here? You should be at the wedding!" his eyes had a hint of pain reflected in them to pronounce that.

Amy clutched her hammer more tightly as her expression grew rather fierce, sending a pelt of fear down Sonic's spine. Oh crap... it'd been so long since he'd seen Angry Amy that he'd forgotten how downright terrifying she could be... wait, was she mad at_ him_? Gulp. Sonic took a step backwards, only for his back to be met with the rough bark of the oak tree.

"_I_ should be at the wedding? Sonic, I can't _believe_ you," she spat, her temper flaring as soon as she'd realized something. "It's _you_ that really should be over there! Why should I? Don't you see? I don't even _know_ Blaze... but she's one of your _good friends_! How can you not show up to her wedding just because you're jealous? All you ever do is _run_ from your problems!_ You_ should be there supporting her... especially if you _do_ still have feelings for her!" She paused from her rant, still breathing heavily, before delivering the line, "Oh, I would go to _your_ wedding!"

At that confession, Sonic's jaw dropped and Amy's expression softened, this time the girl in shock.

_Would you really Amy?_ she questioned herself. _Don't you realize... you could be in Sonic's shoes? You actually were for a long time... do you really think you could drag yourself to Sonic and Blaze's wedding...?_ Seeing Sonic's hurt expression, she winced. _Oh, was I too overwhelming again?  
_

But all Sonic could think was...

She was so utterly and completely _right._

He stared into her eyes, once again astounded at Amy Rose, and how well she understood him, like no one else could. This girl never ceased to amaze him, to enlighten him on the truth of what he was truly feeling and his own behavior. It was almost like, she had part of his heart. She'd been rather overt with her outburst, but still... maybe her slap in the face would be the only way to get through to him and just what he needed.

She was right. He really, really shouldn't be here moping around and feeling sorry for himself. It wouldn't solve anything and it was unlike him. He needed to man up, stop running, and face his fears for once. He had to suck it up and go to the pre-wedding. It might be the only way that he could get over Blaze...

Amy mistook his silence for distress, and spoke in a much softer tone, "Sonic, you can't keep moping around. Blaze is a friend... look, I'm sorry, I really didn't come here to yell at you, but I felt like you needed to hear that..." the girl suddenly approached him and touched his arm lightly, feeling remorseful for being so harsh when he was already hurting. "I really came here to see if you were okay... I... I didn't want to leave you here all alone, by yourself and heartbroken... I wanted to be here for you... to help..."

Sonic glanced back at her. _"Wait_... you stayed back because of _me_?"

Amy nodded. "Yes, I didn't want you to be here all alone and hurting."

"Aw Ames..." the strangest thing was happening in his heart. Yeah... part of it was guilt, but it was also more. Amy had really given up one of her dreams, to attend a romantic ceremony, for him, to stay here because he was being unusually difficult? What was with this amazing girl? "Amy, you shouldn't have... you should be over there, having fun, soaking it all up..."

Realizing something, the hedgehog suddenly leaped to attention, startling the girl with the passionate fire in his eyes.

"C'mon Amy, let's get you a dress," he said, all business, and without further warning, scooped her up and sped off.

"Sonic, I'm not going alone!" A very startled Amy protested, closing her eyes to not get dizzy as they traveled at supersonic speeds.

"Who said anything about alone?" He looked down at Amy. "Look, you're right... I need to let go. And this... might be the only way to do it. 'Sides, I'd hate to think that I kept you from the wedding of the century because I was still being an idiot..."

Amy's eyes opened wide. "You mean... you're going after all?"

Sonic came to a halt in front of a bridal store. "Yep... now hurry up and get pretty, or we'll be late." His eyes now held a light glimmer, and a subtle blush was on his cheeks.

Amy looked at him with glittering eyes, then at the bridal store, then back at Sonic. He was going to go, for her? "Oh, Sonic... you don't have to do this for me... it's not like I know Blaze all that well..."

"Hey now, don't gimme that, I know that yer dyin' to go to hopeless romantic central. And yer not gonna make _me_ go alone, now are ya? I'm goin' no matter what, but... I need a... _date_, don't I?"

They both froze at those words, before two matching, genuine smiles lit up their faces for the first time since they'd found out about this betrothal ceremony.

"Oh Sonic...thanks..." Amy was about to hug him, but then her eyes drifted over his unclothed, toned body. "But you're not... going like_ that_, are you?" It was impossible not to blush at the thought.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh please, Amy... you can drag me to a wedding but you're _not_ getting me into a tux."

Amy couldn't help but lightly giggle at the typical Sonic comment, and but before she could run inside the bridal store, she felt Sonic grip her wrist, causing heat to rise up her arm.

"By the way, uh, I don't think you have to worry about going to my wedding or not. I don't plan on getting married to anyone el- I MEAN, any time soon, EVER..." he quickly covered up and let go of Amy's hand, now redder than his beloved shoes._ Man, why'd I go and say that_? "Any_way,_ hurry up, or we're gonna miss it!"

"Oh my Sonic..." Amy grinned before dashing inside to buy the first dress her hands touched.

_...xxx..._

Leaping out of the portal into the other dimension, Sonic hit the ground running.

"So... do you know where this whole wedding thing is taking place?" he asked Amy, now clad in a frilly light blue dress, who was nestled in his arms.

"Ummm..." Amy suddenly wished she would have paid better attention to the message, but at the time she'd been torn in her decision between a wedding and her Sonic... though it'd been a no-brainer, she'd ended up getting both. "Near the beach maybe? That'd make a good, romantic place..."

Sonic nodded and turned towards the ocean, hugging the banks, his green eyes desperately scanning for some signs -

"There we go!" he said, seeing a huge, diverse crowd, multi-colored banners strung across the tree boughs, and signs advertising for the betrothal ceremony. Festive, light music from instruments Sonic couldn't dream of naming filled the air, beckoning them to come and see.

"How'd you know it'd be here?" Sonic asked her, his brows knitting in wonder.

"I don't know, I just thought it'd be a good place to hold it on an island..." she trailed off.

"Hm, well I hope we're not late," Sonic muttered and turned quickly to approach the wooden entrance arch to the event.

Once the hedgehog had slowed down, he eyed the two tough looking guards, dressed in the official royal symbol, lingering at the entrance.

"Shoot, they're not going to let us in without an invitation," Amy whispered up at Sonic.

"I can fix that," he smirked, a plan quickly forming in his mind.

He gripped Amy closer to his chest and then streaked by the guards at near Mach 2, knowing that would get their attention, and then doubled back at a slower pace to zoom in between them and in the entrance without being seen.

"You hear something?" A guard asked, frantically looking around.

The other shrugged nonchalantly. "Musta just been the wind..."

_That was fun_, Sonic smirked again before looking for a place to sit in the crowded area.

Slipping into two spare seats in the back row, the two of them barely had time to let out a nervous breath before more music filled the air, signaling the ceremony was beginning. Sonic and Amy met eyes in relief and victory.

_Whew, just made it!_

Sonic's eyes were then turned to the altar in front, where Silver was standing next to the priest, looking rather nervous. It was right then that Sonic suddenly remembered that he was actually at Silver and Blaze's pre-wedding, and about to witness the permanent loss of a former love... he let his_ green eyes_ scan over the rival hedgehog, but oddly enough... he didn't feel their symbolic emotion.

Silver looked clearly uncomfortable in the limelight, with every eye on him up there... and for a second, Sonic's heart went out to the guy. _He's just a normal guy who got lucky with Blaze... I should be happy for him... I guess_... Sonic tried to picture himself standing up there, about to pledge his life away... _not happenin' man_... so no, Sonic didn't feel envious of the sterling hedgehog one bit.

And then... _she_ started walking up the aisle.

_Aw maaan..._

Blaze looked so... so..._ gorgeous_ as she made her way up between the rows of people gathered - the lilac cat was clad in a pale yellow and violet dress which was just form-fitting enough to show beauty, yet loose enough to show modesty and purity... it tore at Sonic's heart, as it'd been seemingly ages since he'd last laid eyes on her.

But when she finally stood at the altar, and gazed at her groom-to-be, even from this distance Sonic could see the obvious love present in her eyes, and the love that Silver was returning in that gaze. And when the cat and hedgehog took hands ceremoniously, it was like two puzzle pieces were being snapped flawlessly into place, their jagged edges fitting and molding around the other resulting in a perfect match.

Everything just felt so right...

And then... something quite odd happened to Sonic's mending heart, as he studied the couple at the front and faced his fears. It was like a weight was suddenly lifted off of the muscle... and he felt relieved. Free. Relaxed. The longer the (otherwise boring and tedious) ceremony carried on, the freer and lighter Sonic felt. He felt like... he could let Blaze go now, as she was being promised and bound to someone else. He didn't have to worry about her anymore, or keep part of his heart in her name...

Sonic had thought that his jealousy would be _worse_ coming here, but he found that now that he'd come to face his worst fears... he could let her go... now that she was happy.

_Blaze... I loved you, but... you're not the girl for me... it's time to say good bye... I think... I was more over you than I thought...but it wasn't until I came here, faced my fears that I realized that... and could see you to let you go...  
_

_Good bye, Blaze... and good luck.  
_

Another weight lifted from his heart, and it soared and floated in sweet freedom and release. Sonic's unusually deep thoughts were broken by the unexpected sound of sniffling.

Turning his head curiously, Sonic was shocked to see Amy as the culprit, though in hindsight he shouldn't be. The girl's eyes were welled up, though a smile tugging at her lips proved that it wasn't from anguish, but unbridled joy. Amy's romantic soul was clearly loving this whole atmosphere, soaking it up.

If Amy could be this happy at the not-even-wedding of a girl she used to hate and a guy she didn't even know... he shook his head but smiled. That was Amy for you.

Sonic then felt something - not the typical warm, fuzzy feeling that came from doing a good deed (which bringing Amy out here had been), but more than that. His now light, free heart... may have just found a new reason to beat.

Amy being happy was really a sight to behold - and since Sonic hadn't seen it in awhile, he was reminded just how attractive her smile made her look. Her lips were smooth and pink, complimenting her fur and quills and soft peach muzzle. He suddenly felt an odd urge to raise his hand and start caressing her velvety face... then she would look at him, and her emerald eyes would be swimming in happiness... he would brush away the three cute bang-quills, and then pull her into his arms and never let her go...

For a minute he pictured Amy in a pure white wedding dress, and himself dressed up -_ NO WAY man, what are you_**_ thinking_**? _That would** never** happen!_ He chuckled and shook the crazy thoughts out of his head. Like that would ever happen... him getting married. Ha. But still, coming here, feeling the magic of this whole thing... he could suddenly see why Amy loved this stuff so much.

Just then, feeling his eyes on her and hearing him laugh, Amy turned to Sonic, causing the hedgehog to spin away in blushing bashfulness. _What? Had he been looking at me? Or... is this whole thing just tearing him up inside?  
_

_"_Sonic, are you okay?" she whispered, leaning up closer to him, blinking away happy tears.

"Y-yeah, never better..." he said, looking back at her but raising his hand to scratch his ear.

In that motion, however, his hand met Amy's face halfway up to his own, sending a pleasurable sensation up his arm at the contact. The girl's eyes widened in shock, though more tears squeezed out of them, soaking Sonic's glove. And then, to her utter surprise but delight, Sonic's fingers gently swept across her face, wiping at her tears.

"Don't cry, Amy..." he said with more tenderness than Amy had ever heard from Sonic before in her life. "Be happy, but... don't cry, 'k?"

Her heart melted at his words and soft gaze, and they increased her euphoria to an almost unmanageable level. Another tear fell, but Sonic caught it before it could drip to her chin. Amy sniffed but remained motionless, never wanting Sonic to remove his hand from her face.

_I'll cry all day if that'll make you hold me..._

_"Sonic..."_ she whispered as she got lost in his shiny jade eyes, and everything else around them, the crowd, the wedding, the beach just faded into nothing. All she was aware of was his hand caressing her muzzle, and his own face getting closer and closer...

_Ohmygosh he's going to kiss me... he's leaning forward... he's going to... he'sgoingtooooo..._

"I now proclaim Blaze the Cat and Silver the Hedgehog... betrothed!"

The priest's untimely pronouncement snapped Sonic out of it, and he retracted his hand about an inch from Amy's face.

_ I was so close..._ Her countenance fell in disappointment, but Sonic's reassuring smile kept her hope alive, and her heart surged as she realized... _he wanted to kiss me... he wants to...  
_

"Thanks Amy..." he said and let his hand fall down to intertwine his fingers with hers, his thumb stroking the top of her hand. "I'm glad I could make you happy... I hope there's more where that came from..."

Sonic's green eyes reluctantly moved from Amy's pretty, joyous face and up to the cat and hedgehog couple who were melting into each other's arms. But his heart wasn't bothered a bit by the scene... as his heart may have just found a new home.

_...xxx..._

After the ceremony, everyone got up to mingle, and Sonic and Amy approached Silver and Blaze in the reception line to pay their respects. Sonic hopped back and forth impatiently before Amy took his hand and smiled fondly at him, though her dreamy thoughts were still on how oh so close she had been to Sonic giving her her first kiss.

Finally, the group right in front of them moved on, leaving Sonic and Amy next with Silver and Blaze. Two pairs of golden eyes widened upon seeing Sonic there. Silver immediately tensed up and was about to get his psychokinesis ready when Sonic stuck a hand in his direction, as a sign of peace.

"Hey. Congratz, you two," the blue hedgehog said, grinning genuinely.

At seeing his innocent intent, Silver relaxed and extended his own hand to firmly shake Sonic's. Silver was too happy to think of holding a grudge.

"Thank you, Sonic, I appreciate it."

"You're the man, Silver. You deserve Blaze," Sonic nodded at him, and then let go of his new friend's hand, glad to have patched things up between them.

Then... Sonic turned to Blaze, his former flame. Her amber gaze was guarded, a little distrusting... but when Sonic extended his hand to shake, just like he'd done the first two times they were to be split up... the cat obliged and shook lightly.

"Blaze, three things: sorry... thanks... and good luck," Sonic said simply, chastely releasing her hand.

The bride-to-be gave a small smile, glad that he hadn't come to crash her betrothal party. Knowing him, he could've done that but... he ended up doing the right thing. Just like Sonic always did. Blaze would always respect Sonic as a friend, even though she would never love him romantically. "Thank you, Sonic... you're welcome to come back to our world any time you'd like," she offered.

Sonic smiled in return. "Huh, thanks, but... I'll pass. There's just too much water here." He chuckled. "Seriously, though, you might see me around."

She nodded, and then her eyes drifted to Amy, just now noticing that Sonic was holding her hand. Her eyebrows raised.

"What-oh she's..." his blush betrayed him, and his jaw unhinged before he managed to say, "This... is Amy. She's uh, we're uh..." oh man, his mouth had just suddenly _decided_ to stop working. Why had he been put on the spot like this? He could feel Amy's gaze on him, pleading for her dreams to come true.

_Please, Sonic... just say it... say that the almost-kiss wasn't a fluke... **please**... _

She felt his hand squeeze hers protectively, and her heart soared as Sonic said, "We're... together."

Oh... there wasn't a more_ wonderful perfect **fabulous**_ word in the English language as those eight letters.

Together.

_Me and Sonic, **together?** He'd said it, he'd said it, he'd said it...it wasn't a fluke and he **does care about me**! _Euphoria swept through her being, warming her body from her head to her toes. It was all Amy could do to not throw herself at Sonic and hug him, kiss him, love him... but at the same time, her knees were weak and her eyes were welling up again, this time not for someone else getting together... but for **herself**. _Finally... Oh **Son**ic... I love you so much... and you... do... too...  
_

"Later guys," Sonic said and then, feeling unusually giddy, turned to give Amy a heart-melting grin, pulling _his_ girl off to another part of the party.

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

The only reason I didn't start these notes with an earsplitting squeal is because my inner fangirl died from squealing while I wrote the "Sonic wiping Amy's tears" scene. But she'll be back, don't worry. :DDDD I'm still giddy as heck, though. :DDD

Why I went with a pre-wedding:

1. It makes Sonic realize he has to get over Blaze (because she's officially unattainable, as Sonic's not a girlfriend/fiancee/wife snatching kinda guy) and makes him have to face his problems and thereby release his feelings for her. Before he was just running and avoiding dealing with anything... but now he realizes that he can let Blaze go now that he's seen her.

2. It makes Sonic have a new respect/appreciation for weddings and why Amy loves them so much.

3. It shows Sonic and Amy's love for each other above all else (Amy staying behind from a dream "wedding" for him, Sonic agreeing to go to said wedding for her.)

So... there's still some more that needs to be written, in terms of tying up some loose ends and filling up the few holes this story has...

Besides, they didn't kiss yet... and you KNOW that no SonAmy is over until Sonic and Amy kiss! ;)

So stay tuned for at least one more chapter... Okay, I've held it back admirably: I'M SOOOOO HAPPY! EEEEEEEEEEEK!


	11. Epilogue

Mana the Cat Magician, AutoKnight01, JazzTheHedgehogSingingStar, Kurdave125, SonicandAmy'sPen, 01sonamy01, Alyssacookie, Assurance, Ksonic, narutos consciennce, XoxoSonamy4440oxoX, enustikehtelkcaJ, poka, ItsStephanyx3, Soul the Catt, Writer's Freedom, Mike Prower the Fox, Novus Umbra, IHeartSonAmy, SkulY2K, OddSakura, SherryBlossom:

I'm sorry that it took me so long... the first part of this chapter was driving me up the _wall_... but I felt it needed to be in there. (So please try not to cringe too badly... the second part is much better, I promise you that much ...)

You know... I just realized that last chapter, when I had Sonic telling Blaze he was now with Amy, it sort of reversed what happened in chapter 1, when Sonic was telling Amy he was with Blaze... _huh_. Anyway... I thought I'd point that out.

Enjoy the epilogue!

...xxx...ooo...xxx...

Epilogue: Head Over Heels

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

After all the guests had filed out of the betrothal ceremony, leaving the officially engaged couple to start the next step in the process, Silver and Blaze sought out a private place to spend a quiet evening together. Silver was holding Blaze in his arms as he used his powers to fly them over the ocean to a rather remote island. Blaze was clutching closely to the hedgehog, trying not to look down and found her eyes tracing his chiseled features instead, her heart beating wildly.

Seeing the island he'd grown up on, Silver came to a gentle landing and set Blaze on her own two feet, but the cat didn't stray far from him.

"I'm glad that's over with."

Blaze's rather abrupt comment threw Silver off guard, and he turned to his fiancee. The cat had changed out of her 'overly frilly and uncomfortable' ceremonial dress into her more typical long shirt and pants garb. While Silver's heart had jumped when he'd seen Blaze decked out in the stunning dress, he loved her just the way she normally was.

"What's over with?" he asked, confused, as he thought this whole thing was just getting started.

Blaze sighed and leaned her head against Silver's shoulder, her gold eyes looking out over the lake that they were standing on the bank of. "The party is over. Going through all of the social obligations. I understand the need for them but... it seems a bit overstated. It takes away from what really matters."

Silver smiled and pressed his lips against the top of her head. Right now her hair was down instead of in a ponytail, and it softly cascaded down to her shoulders.

"I know, Blaze, but... I'm still glad that we're doing this the right and formal way."

"Yes. Now we can focus on what's really important. Us."

With that, the two sat in contented silence for a moment, just holding and enjoying the others presence until a sudden rumbling broke the still air. Silver wondered for a moment before he realized where it was coming from. Then he pulled his fiancee even closer, letting their lips blissfully meet. Blaze's free hand found it's way to Silver's fluffy chest, running her fingers through it as they kissed and she purred to her heart's content. Silver's lips fit against hers so perfectly.

After their lips parted, the two lovers met eyes in a special, loving gaze.

"Two years... it seems like a long time," Silver whispered, running his fingers through Blaze's hair.

"Yes but... we have to enjoy it as it happens. We'll find out more about each other this way."

Silver sighed. "I feel like I have a lot to learn about you, Blaze... and I can't wait to find out more."

Blaze stopped purring for a moment as she laughed, but then snuggled up closer to the hedgehog, muttering, "You're so naive..."

A blush came over Silver's face and before he smiled and said, "And you... are so beautiful..."

It was Blaze's turn to blush as Silver swooped in for another kiss, his lips encasing hers in love and sweetness. And as Blaze kissed him back with just as much love... her heart was melting from the tenderness. Never had she thought that love was something that could ever happen to her, but here she was. She'd never had any idea how good this could feel, to give someone everything... and have them return it just as much.

"I love you, Blaze..." Silver said gently when he broke the kiss.

"I love you too, Silver..." she returned and leaned back into the embrace of her better half.

...xxx...

How many people miss it?

Every day, it happened, and yet how many people truly took the time to notice, not to mention appreciate and fully enjoy it? Maybe because it happened everyday, people had taken it for granted. And yet... still, every evening without fail, whether the inhabitants noticed or not, the earth turned away from the sun, casting a blanket of darkness over the planet as it's light source was obscured. But before that darkness... there was light. Brilliant colors would spread across the sky in a dazzling display, providing a feast for the eyes as well as hope for the new day.

Well tonight, Sonic wasn't going to let himself be oblivious to it anymore. He wasn't going to hold back.

The hedgehog leaned forward, resting his now burn-free forearms on the porch railing of the castle. Yes, tonight he would sleep in a bed like a normal person, as all the pre-wedding guests had been invited to be pampered for the night. Sonic had been apathetic and willing to go back home, but when Amy's eyes had lit up and the others seemed enthusiastic, he'd agreed. Why not?

Sonic smiled softly as he enjoyed the pink and orange swirls of the sunset painting the cottony clouds right in front of him. He was just taking it easy. Right now he just needed time to think and reflect on the whirlwind the past few weeks had been.

It'd begun as a sweeping, crazy, spontaneous, intense infatuation for Blaze, taking up all of his time and energy and thoughts. Sonic had learned just how powerful this mushy stuff had been, whereas before, he'd never thought it'd ever happen to him, or just hadn't understood it. But it didn't last, as his infatuation had resulted an ego-shattering rejection, leaving Sonic high and dry, even though he'd given Blaze everything of himself. He'd been left heartbroken, and shaken to the core.

Then simply out of nowhere, her. She'd come... she'd listened... she'd understood, she'd loved him... and, in the biggest twist of them all... she'd captured his own heart. Because she'd shown him who he was and what he really was doing... Amy had simply thrown him head over heels, topsy turvy, upside down, _again and just like Blaze did. _

Though while Blaze had given Sonic a taste of what this love stuff was all about, Amy let him experience it for himself, when it was given back to him and reciprocated. With Blaze, Sonic had been enthralled by her beauty and fighting skills, with Amy... he'd become enthralled with her heart and soul, the true girl inside, proven by how she'd loved him.

Amy Rose, the girl who he'd always avoided... had ended up being the one closest to his heart after all.

_... that's a bit much, isn't it? _

Maybe. But Sonic was finding that some things, especially having to do with Amy... couldn't be exaggerated enough. The girl was just over the top and free-to-the-hilt with how crazy and devoted she was. Amy just wouldn't give up, and was willing to do whatever it took.

Just like... himself.

And yet, Amy wasn't a thing like him. Sonic loved adventure and freedom; Amy liked permanent, safe, more traditional things, though she was anything but a wuss. Sonic was carefree, calm, cool, collected; emotional didn't even begin to describe Amy. But yet... they complimented each other almost perfectly.

Bottom line... Amy had taught him about himself... and the part of _he_r he'd found out left him dying to know more. She'd captivated him. In fact... why didn't he go seek her out now? He had left her back at the party on rather uncertain terms (mostly because he himself wasn't sure where their relationship stood or exactly what he was feeling) and figured that he needed to sort this out. Only Amy could help him do that and so... he was just about to turn from the sunset to go see his girl when...

"Hey Sonic." It was odd how her sweet voice was so welcome to him now, and didn't cause him to run in fear.

Of course, Sonic _never_ had to go looking for Amy. She'd find _him_. Whether he wanted her or not, Amy would always be there for him. And lately... he_ had _been beginning_ to want_ her.

_Some things never change_... yet some things had changed. Namely... how Sonic had been feeling concerning their whole relationship. And as the girl came up next to him on the granite porch, taking his hand in hers, Sonic found himself smiling tenderly at her. The girl was happy... and that warmed his heart.

"Hey Ames. Nice evenin', huh?"

Amy nodded in agreement, her pink quills bouncing from the gesture. After taking a few seconds to look at Sonic's way-too-cute face, she turned towards the sunset.

Ah... everything about this whole ceremony had been such a romantic fantasy to the pink hedgehog, and she'd eaten the whole thing up in ecstasy. There was just something so... magical about a wedding, and two people that loved each other getting together that Amy couldn't help but happily sigh and dream. And to think she had almost missed it... still, it would've been worth it, to make sure Sonic was okay. But either way, she'd lucked out and gotten both.

Honestly, she'd lucked out through these whole past few weeks, from going through the worst depression and broken heart she'd ever suffered, to... now Amy was _actually_ standing right next to Sonic the _Hedge_hog, holding his _hand_, and watching the _sunset_ together. It was hard to believe she'd come so far, after doing nothing but just being there for him.

She turned back to look at him, enjoying how the golden orange sunset was playing with his features. She traced his profile, her eyes lingering on his soft-looking lips in hope, wondering why he was being so quiet. And wondering... if she really _had_ managed to capture his elusive heart with all this. Sure, he'd said that they were_ together_, causing her heart to race and yet... did that mean anything more? She had to know.

Clearing her throat, Amy spoke.

"Sonic, I wanted to thank you for bringing me out here. I know it must've been hard for you, but... I do appreciate it."

He gave her hand a squeeze and turned to her, grinning. "Nah, it was no prob and ya know what Amy..." he paused and looked back out over the ocean. "I think that coming out here, watching Blaze get sorta married... it made me realize she wasn't the girl for me after all. All those traditions and stuff... and I was able to just let her go... ya know?"

Amy nodded, and Sonic continued.

"But, heh, if it wasn't for_ you_, I wouldn't have dragged myself out here to be able to realize that. If it wasn't for you, I would've still been brooding back home."

"That's not true." Amy tilted her head. "You were the one who decided to come here by yourself. I just stayed to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah... but it was only because of your whole _deforestation_ stunt..." Sonic teased with wink.

Amy blushed, but playfully retorted, "How _else_ was I going to get you down out of that tree?"

He chuckled. "Yeah... and your little outburst was the only thing that could knock some sense into me. I guess, heh, I can be a little, um..."

"Slow?" Amy teased, trying not to laugh at Sonic's resulting, almost offended expression.

"NO, not _slow_, puh, as_ if_ ... but more like..." he trailed off, still searching for the right word.

"...oblivious?" Amy supplied, and when Sonic's eyes lit up she internally cheered.

"Yeah, that's it. Heh." he paused again, as if processing something..._ jeez, how can this girl read my mind!._.. and then continued. "...and Amy... uh, I realized something else." Amy's heart skipped at these words, and Sonic's tone became more serious.

"You showed me who I was... and who I should be... and how wrong I was about you and everything. You're a pretty amazing girl. You sent me careening head over heels. I mean, this whole thing's been one wild roller coaster, but it was you, Amy, that stabilized me, who showed me what I was doing... who put up with me... who loved me... even when I didn't deserve it..."

"Oh, of course you deserved it," Amy insisted and leaned up closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Nah, I really didn't. I mean... yeesh, I would _never_ put up with a girl who treated me that way. And... I'm still shocked at that, Ames. You're an amazing girl."

Amy's muzzle blended into her fur, and Sonic still shook his head in wonder at how easy it was to make her blush. He was about to tease her about just that when the girl asked him a question.

She turned to look at him with those dazzling dark green eyes and innocent stare that he'd come to love. "Sonic... did you really mean it when you said we were together?"

Now it was Sonic's turn to blush at being put on the spot again, and he looked away. "Uh, yeah, 'course..." he mumbled.

"Oh."

The disappointment in that word was unmistakable, and guilt hit Sonic as he realized that wasn't really what Amy was looking for. He turned back to look at the girl, noticing she was biting her lip, her eyes trained straight forward, looking distressed.

_Yeah, you messed that one up, man. _

Amy was trying not to cry._ I should've known... he just said that... he's only a good friend... oh why am I complaining? But still, I thought... he said... _

Her thoughts were broken as Sonic's tan arm suddenly found its way around her waist, pulling the girl into a warm, close side-hug. Amy gasped and looked up at him wide-eyed, a gaze that Sonic returned with a tender smile.

"Amy..." he raised his free hand to touch her face again, and Amy was quite sure she was going to faint. "Amy ... look. Here's the deal. I... I dunno... _exactly_ how I feel about you, okay? I'm still tryin' to figure that out. But I do know that I care about you a lot and I want you to be my girl. I was thinkin' we could figure it out as we go and just wing it."

Amy's eyes were still as large as saucers, her heart hadn't recovered from 'I care about you a lot.' "Wh-whaddya mean..." she stuttered at his last sentence.

"Weelll..." Sonic blushed again, not used to the deepness and mushiness. "About_ us._" He swallowed and tried to collect his thoughts. "I've been doin' some hard thinkin' about you and everything, and... well, I realized I had ta make a choice. I never thought that I'd end up with you, because I thought that if I ... ever loved you, you'd make me do so many things I didn't want to and make me give up everything and my freedom and I just couldn't _do_ that. I valued my freedom more than anything, and thought that love would go against that... but then I realized... quite outta nowhere..." he paused, his heat pumping at just the _thought_ of what he was going to say...

"That loving you would be the best thing that could ever happen to me."

_Did he just say..._

Amy couldn't help but gasp as Sonic suddenly pulled her into a full head-on embrace, both of his strong arms wrapped around her waist, and their chests almost touching. Their faces were now so close; Sonic's nose brushed against hers and she could feel his sweet breath exhaling onto her mouth.

"Sonic, do you mean...?" she somehow managed to gasp despite her rapidly beating heart and short breaths. Her hands had found their way around behind his neck, and she grabbed his curved back-quills for support.

He nodded. "I do... I realized that you... were always part of me. And even when I ran you still had me somehow in your grip. Because... you loved me just for who I was, when I was weak and broken and hurting and not myself... no one else did, Amy. No one else cared, but you did. I never thought I'd need or want someone else that much." He let his index finger trace over her face again, causing Amy to blush and smile, her bold green eyes glittering in unbridled joy. Sonic continued, his own heart beating wildly. This whole confession thing still felt surreal.

"And I realized that... if I let myself have you, or gave in, then it'd be nothing but good for us both. It would be more freeing to love you than to run. So... I did give in, and let my heart be finally free to love. Because you showed me that love isn't something to run from. It's something to run _towards_. And so..." he gave Amy that winning grin. "I'm gonna change direction.**"  
**

Then... the moment Amy had been waiting for her whole life... the moment she dreamed of and imagined... when her eyes had glazed over, she pictured Sonic holding her, just like he was now, whispering tenderness, smiling softly, and then leaning forward to...

Sonic started extending his neck out, and then raised his left hand to gently take hold of Amy's head, pulling the girl's face closer to his own. Right before he closed his eyes, he could see the bewildered, giddy expression in her forest green orbs before Amy veiled her own gaze.

_Oh my gosh this is really, really happen**ing**..._

Not wanting to mess her first kiss up, Amy puckered her lips a little before Sonic's own suddenly encased them in soft yet electrifying contact, sending both hedgehog's minds reeling in intense pleasure.

Sonic's lips were like honey - smooth, sweet, and thick - as they lovingly caressed Amy's own pair. Amy felt her knees go weak, and if Sonic hadn't been clutching her so close to himself, she would've crumpled to the ground. But as it was.. she was safe and secure, nestled in Sonic's arms as he kissed her deeply and lovingly. Like he wanted her, like he loved her. Joyful, relieved tears squeezed out of Amy's eyes, but she didn't care... she was just _so overwhelmingly happy,_ that this was finally happening to _her_. Finally... after years of heartbreaks and rejection... she was at long last being held and loved by Sonic. She could feel his hands running through her silky quills, and she raised her own to stroke his back-quills and the velvety fur underneath them.

Sonic felt Amy's soft lips join in on the fray, returning his kisses with all the pent up emotions she'd always felt. He pulled her even closer, wanting to never let her go again, and she did the same. He kissed her passionately, and felt her lips dance back... like she wanted him and loved him, proving that what she felt was similar to his own heart. Sonic had never kissed or been kissed like this before... he'd never _felt_ like this before, to feel so much and have it finally be returned... it was just so surreal, so magical... he felt more _free_ than he'd ever felt in his life.

They kissed until it was necessary to breathe again, though when their lips parted, the resulting smack was nearly silent. Emerald and jade eyes opened at the same time, still a mirror of feelings, but this time not of envy and heartbreak, but of happiness, joy, and love...

Tears were still falling out of Amy's eyes, and as soon as Sonic noticed, he caught them not with his fingers, but with gentle pecks. Of course, this tender gesture only made Amy want to cry more. And she did, as Sonic continued to press his lips against her face.

"I love you, Amy Rose..." Sonic whispered.

"Oh Sonic... thank you... I love you so much... I wanted so long... I _dreamed_... and now... you're here... and you love me..." she trailed off and rested her head against Sonic's chest and shoulder, still clutching him tightly. Underneath his incredibly soft fur, Amy could feel hard, rippling muscles, yet still under that... a heart beating... for her.

Sonic looked down at the girl in his arms... not believing how he'd gotten so lucky as to have her. She loved him, just for him... and he loved her... he'd succumbed to that love... and it'd been the best thing that ever happened to him.

And as Amy snuggled into Sonic's arms, her happy tears flowing freely, she had only one thought...

_He was oh so worth the wait. _

...

The End

...

To my favorite story that I've ever written... by far. And not just because of all the reviews and faves (though I love you guys and you inspired me to make this story as well-written and detailed as possible) but because... well...

1. Right now, I'm wiping away _droves_ of happy-tears. I mean, this is beyond fangirl scream level to me... And...

2. Why do I love SonAmy in the first place? Mostly because as a young teen I had the whole unrequited crush thing (heck, the guy even _actually ran_ from me one time... :/ ), so I could connect with Amy immediately when I first got into Sonic. And so there were some ties to personal experience with this story... though Amy got the happy ending that we all want. ^_^

3. I got to thinking... What if... I actually did the unthinkable... the horrible... the worst thing ever, and paired Sonic with another girl? I thought, why exactly do I hate that idea so much? And... if I want to pair Sonic and Amy up eventually, then how could that happen? A few hours of thinking later, I came up with this plot of Sonic coming to understand Amy though empathy. So moral of that story, don't be afraid to try something. If you hate it, write about _why _you hate it... don't tell me, show me, I guess...

Other Inspiration List:

Movies - Fireproof, the 'Cross Scene' ("That is _not_ what I'm doing!" ~ "Son, you just asked me, how can someone show love over and over again, when they're constantly rejected..." )

Songs - Caught Up by Usher (Sonic - "Until I met this girl who turned the tables around..."), Obsession by Frankie J. (Sonic - "What am I doing wroooong?") King of Anything by Sarah Bareilles (Blaze - "Who died and made you king of anything?"), Others, I'm sure apply to this story.

Fanfics/authors - luigi-is-stellar's "Ultimatum", Jacklethekitsune's "In My Arms", Bullet Nick's "Heart Beat" and "Listen To Your Heart."

And yes, there is a deeper meaning to this story (as do most of my stories - if you'd like to know, I'd love to explain it to you), but you may take it as simply a SonAmy story if you wish~

(And if you're going to say that Sonic's OOC in this chapter, then I will add some sad tears to the mix. The whole experience has changed him a bit, guys! Though he's still Sonic... he's just... a little more sensitive now.)

Anyways... I won't bore you to death with my pointless notes anymore. Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, faving, and subscribing... it means the world to me that you all like my stuff... all your compliments, I really did take them to heart.

And... I guess that's it for this story. I almost don't want to stop, but I feel that any more would be unnecessary. As for a sequel... probably not but I won't say definitely no. I'd need some ideas and lots of time. I got a lot of other things to write at the moment. I'll be updating my profile with future plans of what I'll write next, so check it out if you care.

Thanks again, I love you all!

~silverdawn~


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